The robust residential property market has helped housebuilder Tulloch Homes to maintain its consistent progress.

The latest set of annual results for the Inverness-headquartered group, covering its financial year ending 30th June 2017, show that it generated turnover of £43.5 million while posting an operating profit of £8m (up 8.1% from 2016) and pre-tax profits of £7.7m (a rise of 13.2% on 2016).

While the total number of homes it sold decreased slightly from 201 to 180 compared to the previous year, the average value rose from £203,000 to £210,000.

Predominantly building in the Highlands and Aberdeenshire, the 90-year-old company has over the past year made a new foray into the Central Belt of Scotland with a development in East Kilbride.

The Tulloch board remain confident about its prospects, and pointed to favourable market conditions and a strong pipeline of properties awaiting construction as indicators that further growth was achievable in the year ahead.

George Fraser, Tulloch Homes group chief executive, said: “Our measured investment in suitable sites combined with low interest rates and a relatively stable economy in our primary areas of activity have contributed to another positive year for the firm.

“From what we have seen confidence among house buyers remains robust, and that has continued over the past six months.

“We have a very healthy land bank which we continue to maintain, and we are pleased with the success of our development in East Kilbride with it being our first in central Scotland for a number of years.”

Tulloch employs over 150 people directly and has over 300 subcontractors across its local communities in the Highlands and North East

Mr Fraser added: “By focusing on building high-quality stock in key areas, and with the continued support of our dedicated employees and subcontractor pool, we expect to see unit numbers and prices remain consistent in the year ahead.

“We are also in the final stages of our non-core asset disposal programme, which we set out at the time of the management buy-out to focus on returning the company to being purely a housebuilder. That has contributed to a significantly strengthened balance sheet and puts us on a strong footing for continued investment in the years ahead.

“The long-term stability of the company is our priority, and the steady improvement in the performance of the business means we can re-invest in training and recruitment and in turn boost the economies of our local communities.”