Lend Lease has cheered investors with expectations of a modest rise in operating profit for the 2011/12 financial year.

Shares in the developer bounced by more than four per cent on Monday when Lend Lease said it was on track to achieve an operating profit after tax of $485 million-$505 million for the year to June 30.

The result excludes any profits from the Barangaroo South development in Sydney’s CBD.

Lend Lease posted an operating profit after tax of $485.3 million for the year to June 30, 2011.

The news caused Lend Lease shares to rise 31 cents to $7.51.

Australian Stock Report head of research Geoff Saffer said the operating profit was higher than analysts expected.

“The market had expectations of about $450 million so it’s quite a bit stronger than what the market was expecting,” he said.

“It’s flat to five per cent higher than what they announced last year and about 10 per cent higher than what many analysts had been expecting.”

Lend Lease chief executive Steve McCann said the result would be aided by the successful integration of the infrastructure business during the 2011/12 financial year.

“We are very pleased with a strong expected result in such a difficult market environment,” he said in a statement.

Mr McCann said Lend Lease continued to recycle capital from its property assets and non-core businesses to invest in higher yielding opportunities.