Bellway has seen its net profits drop by £200m because of the impact of the credit crunch.

In its final results for the year the house-builder has been forced to deduct write downs and costs from its profits totalling more than £130m.

This means that the Newcastle-based company has made profits of £34.8m compared with £234.8m in 2007.

‘A full review of inventories has been performed and write downs have been made where cost exceeds net realisable value,’ said a statement to the stock exchange this morning.

‘Estimated selling prices have been reviewed on a site by site basis and selling prices have been reduced, based on local management and the boards assessment of current market conditions.

These site reviews have resulted in write downs totalling £112.5m.

‘In addition option costs and related fees have been written down by £15.4m to their net realisable value.

‘The board has also reassessed the net realisable value of currently unsold part exchange properties and has written down stock by 10% totalling £3m.’

The company sold 6,556 homes for the year ending July 31 2008, 14% less than the record high of 7,638 homes in 2007.

It said it is currently 23.7% geared and has used 42.5% of its £512m banking facilities.

Bellway also said that, despite the market instability, it was proposing a final dividend payment of 6p, resulting in a total dividend for the year of 24.1p compared to 43.1p in 2007.

Bellway’s share price opened today at 523.5 p compared with a year high of 1,122p and a year low of 342p.