TIDMTW.
RNS Number : 6119X
Taylor Wimpey PLC
27 April 2023
27 April 2023
Taylor Wimpey plc
Trading statement for the period covering 1 January 2023 to
today
Signs of improving customer confidence, full year 2023 guidance
reiterated
Taylor Wimpey plc is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM)
today at 10:30am at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Gerrards Cross, where
the following comments will be made regarding current trading,
financial performance, and outlook for the financial year.
Jennie Daly, Chief Executive, commented:
"We have seen continued recovery in demand from the low levels
experienced towards the end of 2022, supported by good mortgage
availability, and have seen an incremental improvement in sales
rate as the Spring selling season has progressed. While we remain
cautious of continued macroeconomic uncertainty, Taylor Wimpey is a
strong and agile business differentiated by our high-quality
landbank and experienced teams who have a sharp focus on
operational discipline."
"On behalf of the wider management team, I would like to also
take this opportunity to thank Irene Dorner who today steps down as
Chair. We look forward to welcoming Robert Noel into the role, who
brings with him more than 30 years' experience in the property
sector."
UK current trading
As the seasonally strong Spring selling season has progressed,
we have seen an increase in the overall year to date sales rate
compared to that announced on 2 March and pricing has remained
resilient.
Whilst challenges remain for our customers, particularly first
time buyers, targeted marketing spend has enabled us to maintain
customer interest at healthy levels. There is a continued
commitment by mortgage providers to lend with good levels of
product availability and with rates reduced from the highs of Q4
2022. We continue to focus on addressing the needs of our
customers, evolving our offering and prioritising improvements in
customer service leveraging our customer relationship management
system.
Our net private sales rate for the year to 23 April 2023 was
0.75 (2022: 0.97), with a cancellation rate of 15% (2022: 14%).
Sales in the period include planned bulk deals and, excluding bulk
deals, our net private sales rate for the year to 23 April 2023 was
0.66. As at 23 April 2023, our total order book value stood at
GBP2,379 million (2022: GBP3,027 million). This represents 8,576
homes (2022: 11,119 homes).
Prevailing annualised build cost inflation remains high but is
beginning to moderate from the 9-10% we reported in March, a trend
we expect to continue as the year progresses.
High-quality landbank
Our high-quality landbank continues to be a differentiator. At
the end of March 2023, our short term landbank stood at c.86k plots
(2022: c.87k plots) and our strategic land pipeline stood at c.140k
potential plots (2022: c.145k plots).
We remain highly selective in our land additions. As a result,
in the year to date we have approved fewer than 500 new plots, but
we remain agile and active in reviewing opportunities.
The planning backdrop remains difficult, as we have previously
noted, with a lack of resource and well-known bottlenecks at
various stages in the planning process.
Against this backdrop our strategic pipeline is an important
benefit, and we have made good progress with the conversion of c.5k
plots in the period.
Proactive actions through changing market conditions
We continue to focus on operational discipline having tightened
all areas of our operations with strict work in progress control,
restricted discretionary spend and significantly reduced
landbuying.
We completed our consultation (announced in January) on a series
of business changes, delivering annualised cost savings of GBP19
million, with the cost to achieve these GBP8 million in 2023. These
changes will not affect our existing market coverage, ability to
provide high-quality product and service to our customers or
ability to take advantage of market opportunities should they
emerge.
Dividend
As previously announced, we intend to pay a 2022 final ordinary
dividend of 4.78 pence per share on 12 May 2023 (2021 final
dividend: 4.44 pence per share), subject to shareholder approval at
today's AGM, in line with our Ordinary Dividend Policy to return
c.7.5% of net assets annually, in two equal instalments.
Outlook
Although industry sales rates remain at lower levels than in
recent years, customer interest has continued to recover from the
weak conditions experienced in the final quarter of 2022. We
continue to expect 2023 completions to be in the range of 9,000 to
10,500, broadly equivalent to an annual net sales rate assumption
of 0.5 to 0.7, with completions more weighted to the second
half.
As outlined in the full year announcement, value over volume
remains our key priority, together with tight cost management and
WIP control. Our focus on building a strong order book will allow
us to optimise price going into 2024, and, as a result, not all
reservations taken between now and the end of September will be for
completion in 2023.
Looking ahead, while we remain mindful of wider macroeconomic
uncertainties, our business is well placed with a clear strategy
focused on operational excellence and delivering value from our
high-quality landbank.
Note:
2022 relates to the equivalent trading period, unless stated
-Ends-
For further information please contact:
Taylor Wimpey plc Tel: +44 (0) 1494 885656
Chris Carney, Group Finance Director
Debbie Archibald, Investor Relations
Andrew McGeary, Investor Relations
FGS Global TaylorWimpey@fgsglobal.com
Faeth Birch
Anjali Unnikrishnan
James Gray
Notes to editors:
Taylor Wimpey plc is a customer-focused residential developer,
operating at a local level from 22 regional businesses across the
UK. We also have operations in Spain.
For further information, please visit the Group's website:
www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/corporate
Follow us on Twitter via @TaylorWimpeyplc
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END
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