Taylor Wimpey sees good start to 2018 after profits rise

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's third-largest builder Taylor Wimpey said it had seen a good start to 2018 after posting a 11 percent rise in full-year profit as selling prices continued to rise for its properties.

"2017 was another strong year for Taylor Wimpey and we enter 2018 in a good position with positive forward momentum," said Chief Executive Pete Redfern.

"We have been encouraged by early trading patterns at the start to the year and despite some wider macroeconomic uncertainty, consumer confidence remains robust and market fundamentals are solid," he said.

The firm's pretax profit before exceptional items rose to 812 million pounds in the period, marginally ahead of expectations.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas, editing by James Davey)