Builder Bovis on track to meet 2017 profit expectations

LONDON (Reuters) - British builder Bovis (BVS.L), which has spurned two bidders this year, said on Tuesday it would meet profit expectations in 2017 as its new boss tries to turn the business around.

Bovis warned earlier this year its profits and volumes would fall as it focuses on improving the quality of its homes after customer complaints ranging from a lack of sealant in bathrooms to nails poking through walls.

It rejected takeover offers from two rivals housebuilders and appointed new Chief Executive Greg Fitzgerald who has reined in growth targets as part of a turnaround plan.

"We set out our clear operational priorities for 2017 to transform and re-set the business and have made positive progress against these," Bovis said in a statement.

"We are confident of delivering profit, pre one-off and exceptional costs, in-line with the board's expectations for FY 2017 and a significant improvement in profits for FY 2018."

Bovis is expected to post a 20 percent drop in full-year pretax profit to 123 million pounds ($160 million), according to a Thomson Reuters poll of 12 analysts.

The firm said its sales rate had increased over the last few months compared with the start of the year and it expected the average selling price of its homes to rise this year.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Mark Potter)