Barratt Developments posts 75 percent rise in first-half profit

LONDON (Reuters) - Housebuilder Barratt Developments posted a 75 percent rise in profit in the six months to end-December on Wednesday after it completed 6,971 new homes, and said its second half had started well.

The company, which reported pretax profit of 210.2 million pounds ($325.62 million) for the period, said it planned to open a further 90 sites in the second half, which would deliver another 13,500 new homes over their lifetime.

($1 = 0.6455 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Neil Maidment)