Vistry Group tops annual profit estimates as home sales rise

(Reuters) - Vistry Group , formerly known as Bovis Homes Group, on Thursday beat market estimates with a 12% rise in annual profit as it sold more homes and said it had seen increased levels of consumer demand in the new year.Vistry, which recently closed a deal to buy Galliford Try's residential units, said pretax profit before pre-exceptional items rose to 188.2 million pounds in the year ended Dec. 31, from 168.1 million pounds last year.