<p><span class="xxxxxxxxnormaltextrun"><span>Cala has achieved a robust first half performance ahead of forecasts, with pre-tax profit up </span></span><span class="xxxxxxxxnormaltextrun"><span style="color:black;mso-ansi-language: EN-US">26% on last year, according to the business.</span></span></p> <p><span>Issuing a trading update for the six months to June 30 2022, the housebuilder said its pre-tax profit for the period was “in excess of” £98 million against the £77.6 million achieved in the first half of 2021.</span></p> <p><span>Turnover during the half year rose 15% to £688 million, with completions climbing by a more modest 3% to 1,527 units.</span></p> <p><span>The sales rate per site per week was broadly the same as H1 2021, at 0.77 (2021: 0.76). Private average selling prices rose from last year’s £454,000 to £491,000.</span></p><p><span class="xxxxxxxxnormaltextrun"><span style="color:black;mso-ansi-language: EN-US">For its full year, Cala said it was set to deliver an improvement in units, turnover and pre-tax profit. It expects home completions for 2022 to “top” 3,100 – an uplift of 7% on FY 2021. In 2021, the company produced a turnover of </span><span>£1.24 billion and pre-tax profit of £132 million.</span></span></p><p><span class="xxxxxxxxnormaltextrun"><span class="xxxxxxxxnormaltextrun">Cala noted the “strong market demand” for its homes. It is now </span><span class="xxxxxxxxnormaltextrun"><span style="color: black;">90% sold for the 2022 financial year. It also said that its increased sales price …