Retirement village operator Summerset nearly doubled its first-half profit on the back of increased revenue and property values.Key numbers for the six months ended June compared with a year ago:Net profit $171.4m vs $89.4mUnderlying profit $10.3.4m vs $106.6mAsset value gains $191.1m vs $85.6mRevenue $200.3m vs $17Interim dividend 3.8 cents per shareChief executive Scott Scoular said the result showed a good start to the year as the company sold more units, but kept a rein on expenses and managed its building programme."We've also continued to bring new homes to market in New Zealand and Australia, and taken deliberate steps to manage development spend, strengthen cash generation and reduce net debt over the next 18 months."Scoullar said it was being more cautious given the uncertain economic environment and it was focusing on "disciplined delivery and cash generation"."We've worked hard to further strengthen our cashflow and provide increased balance sheet resilience that gives us flexibility when conditions improve.""We have made the decision to hold our group build rate steady, progressed changes to optimise our shareholder returns, including resetting our deferred management fee... held our head office costs in line with last year and paced our development activity carefully."The company had more than 10,000 residents in more than 40 villages on both sides of the Tasman, with several currently under construction. It had also reported an increase in the number of care beds it's sold.Summerset built 481 new homes in New Zealand and Australia, and has a total build target of 700-800 for the year.Scoullar said market conditions were expected to be uneven through the second half, but Summerset was pursuing debt and earnings targets to deliver shareholder returns.