The newly-named Vistry Group - Bovis Homes until the first week of 2020 - has said that it expects to deliver another year of record profits.

The group, who completed the purchase of Linden Homes from Galliford Try last week, leading to the change of name, have one of their UK regional bases in Bishop's Cleeve.

And in a trading update released today, the group reported on "further operational progress" over the past 12 months, with profits expected to come in ahead of initial expectations.

Chief Executive Greg Fitzgerald said: "The Group has made further operational progress over the past 12 months and for 2019 expects to deliver another year of record profit.

"Building high quality new homes for our customers has been, and remains our priority, and I am confident we will finish the year as an HBF 5-star housebuilder.

"We completed the transformational acquisition of the Linden Homes and the renamed Vistry Partnerships at the start of this year.

"Integration is well under way and we are fully focused on delivering the clear and significant bene-fits from this exciting combination as quickly as possible."

The group said it sold 3,867 new homes in the year, at an average selling price of £279,000.

The full financial results are set to be published on February 27.