THE developer behind a 600- acre regeneration scheme in Newport has seen a 34 percent increase in its profits this year.

St Modwen, which is behind the Glan Llyn site in Llanwern, yesterday announced an increase in profit before tax to £50.4 million.

It secured planning permission from Newport council to develop the first phase of housing on the former steelworks, with Persimmon Homes.

In preparation for the housing, St Modwen also completed a £5 million programme of infrastructure works to create a new road into the scheme and an 18-acre public park.

Over the next 20 years, St Modwen will transform the site into a new community and business area with more than 4,000 homes, two primary schools, a community centre, library, surgery and police station and leisure facilities offering a supermarket, shops, restaurants and bars.

Work started on building the new homes last September with the first set of residents expected to move in this spring.

The first phase of opening up the currently-private dual carriageway running on the southern boundary of the site has nowbeen completed, with the remainder of the road being upgraded over the next 18 months.