Pension changes boost demand for Marshall's paving products

LONDON (Reuters) - British landscape products firm Marshalls has benefited from older people spending money on new driveways and patios after restrictions on pension savings were eased last year, it said on Friday.

The British company, which supplied the materials for a new square at Kings Cross Station in London, saw the biggest growth in demand from contractors working for domestic customers in its first half, Chief Executive Martyn Coffey said on Friday.

"The domestic side we see as very strong, up 7 percent in the first six months," he said in an interview.

"Domestic has probably been a bit helped by the pension release, which came in last year. The second quarter was the highest amount so far, where people are taking 25 percent of their pension tax free and are using some of that investment to improve their homes."

Sweeping reforms to pensions in 2015 gave people aged over 55 full control of their retirement savings.

Coffey said Britain's vote to leave the European Union in June had not had hit demand. "If you look at our sales and our orders throughout the year, you would not have seen where Brexit occurred," he said.

The company reported a 21 percent rise in pretax profit to 25.1 million pounds ($33 million) on revenue 2 percent higher at 202.4 million pounds.

Coffey said the strong profit performance was driven by new products - the company has already filed nine patents this year - and efficiency improvements.

Shares in the group, which increased its interim dividend by 29 percent to 2.9 pence, were trading up 1.8 percent at 320 pence at 0921 GMT, having made up all of the ground they lost after the Brexit vote in June.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Susan Thomas)