McCarthy & Stone has increased its investment target to £2.5bn after it experienced strong growth in 2015.

The retirement housebuilder generated an underlying profit before tax of £88.4m for the year, an increase of 40%.

Revenue growth increased 25% to £485.7m, compared to £387.8m in 2014.

Legal competitions were up 15% to 1,923 (2014: 1,677) and net average selling price up 12% to £239,000 (2014: £214,000).

In light of the results, the developer has increased its investment plans to £2.5bn over the next four years, up from £2bn.

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The firm acquired 90 new development sites last year with a current land bank of 10,087 plots.

John White, Group Chairman, said: "It has been another strong year of profitable growth for McCarthy & Stone. We continue to capitalise on the increasing demand for specialist retirement housing, driven by a rapidly ageing population and a structural under-supply of this form of accommodation in the UK.

"The Group is well-positioned to benefit from this unprecedented market opportunity, and the scale and quality of our land bank provides significant visibility over the medium-term for our potential rapid growth.

"Against this backdrop, we have increased our investment target for land and build to £2.5 billion over the next four years and remain on track to deliver 3,000 specialist retirement apartments per year over the medium term, doubling the size of the business."

(LM/CD)