29th Jul 2020 08:48
(Alliance News) - Taylor Wimpey PLC on Wednesday said it swung to a loss in the first half of its current financial year as its income plummeted but said it remains confident on its outlook and expects to restore dividend payments.
Shares in the FTSE 100 housebuilder were trading 7.5% lower at 122.95 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
For the six months to June 28, Taylor Wimpey posted revenue of GBP754.6 million, down 56% year-on-year from GBP1.73 billion. Pretax loss was GBP39.8 million, swung from a profit of GBP299.8 million a year prior.
The deterioration in its performance was blamed on the closing of construction sites and sales centres from March 23 for the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK.
The first half net private sales rate of 0.70 homes per outlet per week was down on 1.00 a year ago. The sales rate was 0.97 prior to the UK's Covid-19 shutdown, when it then reduced to 0.30. In the nine weeks since sales centres reopened in England, the sales rate has increased to 0.70.
In order to conserve cash, Taylor Wimpey cancelled the payment of a 2020 final dividend of 3.80p as well as the planned special dividend of 10.99p. However, it said it plans to resume the payment of dividends in 2021 and will review the special dividend in 2021 for payment in 2022. For comparison, for the first half of 2019, the company declared an interim dividend of 3.84p.
Turning to current trading, it said that in the nine weeks since its sales centres in England reopened, its sales rate increased to 0.70 from 0.30 during shutdown. It added that there has been a three-fold increase in appointments booked and a 50% increase in website visits year-on-year.
Turning to Taylor Wimpey's outlook, Chief Executive Pete Redfern said: "Looking ahead, balance sheet strength, a long order book and our high quality and growing landbank gives us confidence in our ability to navigate the challenges and emerge stronger from the pandemic. While uncertainties remain, we are confident in the underlying fundamentals of the housing market."
Cash held as at June 28 was GBP601.8 million.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected]
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