1st Mar 2016 07:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Taylor Wimpey PLC on Tuesday said its net cash almost doubled in 2015 and pretax profit surged, as its total home sales rose and average selling price increased.
The FTSE 100 housebuilder said it sold 13,219 homes over the course of 2015, up 7.5% from the 12,294 it sold a year earlier. It sold those homes at an average price of GBP230,000 apiece, up from GBP213,000, which drove revenue up 17% to GBP3.14 billion from GBP2.69 billion. The company posted a pretax profit of GBP603.8 million, up 34% from GBP450.1 million.
Taylor Wimpey said its net cash on December 31 was GBP223.3 million, up 98% from GBP112.8 million, and the group closed 2015 with a record order book in place, at GBP1.78 billion, compared to GBP1.40 billion at the end of 2014. That equates to 7,484 homes in total, up from 6,601 a year earlier.
Taylor Wimpey lifted its dividend by 7.1% to 1.67 pence per share from 1.56p the previous year, and it confirmed it will return 9.20p per share of surplus cash to shareholders in July this year, as previously announced.
As at February 21, Taylor Wimpey was around 50% forward sold for private completions, and its order book was at GBP2.03 billion, up from GBP1.63 billion for the equivalent period in 2015.
"2016 has continued to be positive across all of our regional markets, with demand strong and good access to mortgages. With a strong order book and high-quality landbank, we continue to work with stakeholders to ensure we open all sites with implementable planning and begin building as quickly and efficiently as possible," said Pete Redfern, chief executive.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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