Housebuilder Barratt Developments beat market forecasts with a 3.4 percent rise in year underlying pretax profits on Wednesday and said it remained confident for the current year.

The country's second biggest housebuilder by market value said it made 391.4 million pounds in underlying pretax profits for the year to end June, up from 378.4 million a year ago.

The result compared with an average forecast of 384 million given by 13 analysts, whose individual forecasts ranged between 379.4 million and 398 million pounds, according to Reuters Estimates.

The year dividend was raised by 15 percent to 31.03 pence a share.

The underlying fundamentals of the housing market remain sound, the market has returned to normality and we are confident of our ability to compete and continue to grow our business, it said in a statement.

Notwithstanding general concerns about interest rate trends, our record forward sales, strengthened land bank and strong finances, put us in a healthy position for the coming year.

Revenue in the last year edged down 2.1 percent to 2.4 billion pounds as the average selling price fell 4 percent due to an increased portion of cheaper housing completions.

Shares in Barratt closed at 1,022 1/2 pence a share on Tuesday, valuing the group at around 2.5 billion pounds.