Housebuilder Bovis sees profits up but market normalising

LONDON (Reuters) - Housebuilder Bovis Homes said on Friday its profits would rise strongly in 2014 due to higher prices and more sales but that it was seeing a return to a more "normal" seasonal pattern in Britain's housing market.

Bovis said it expected volumes to increase by over 30 percent in 2014, with the average home selling for 10 percent more than in 2013.

However the company said it sales rates had fallen in the second half of the year compared to the same period last year, which benefited from then recent introduction of the government's mortgage guarantee scheme known as "Help to Buy."

(Reporting By Costas Pitas)