7th Nov 2007 07:01
Redrow PLC07 November 2007 7 NOVEMBER 2007 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT Redrow plc is holding its Annual General meeting today at 12 noon at St David'sPark Hotel, Ewloe, Flintshire, Wales and is making its maiden Interim ManagementStatement covering the first 17 weeks trading of the current financial year. At the meeting Alan Bowkett, Chairman will be making the following statement toShareholders: "As we highlighted in our Preliminary Announcement on 11 September 2007, Redrowentered the current financial year with a strengthened forward sales positionand with a more robust position as regards planning. As a consequence, the keyfactor in the outcome for the year to June 2008 would be the strength of demandin the markets in which we operate. We indicated at that time that increases in U.K. interest rates, coupled withremaining uncertainties over their future direction and concerns over thebroader debt markets appeared to be influencing consumer confidence and thehousing market as we moved into the important Autumn selling season. In theweeks following this announcement, uncertainty and confidence were furtherinfluenced by the issues in the banking sector and heightened concernssurrounding credit tightening which have continued to affect the overall housingmarket. In September and October, achieved prices were generally consistent with ourplans as we continued to focus on optimising revenues though we experienced onlya modest seasonal uplift in reservation rates. Customers appear to be waitingto assess the prospects for both the housing market and mortgage interest ratesand lenders are taking a more cautious view as regards lending criteria. Wecurrently expect the Group's first half legal completions to be approximately2,000 homes. Our mixed use and regeneration activities continue to perform in line with ourexpectations. We expect these operations in the first six months to deliver anoperating profit at similar levels to the first half of 2006/07. We announced in September that we had decided to investigate our optionsregarding our involvement in Framing Solutions plc, our joint venture withCorus. We anticipate being in a position to make an announcement regardingFraming Solutions at our January Trading Update. The action we took in the last financial year to make our business moreefficient whilst preserving the capability for growth is standing us in goodstead. As we said in September, we are retaining a close focus on ouroperational cost base and continue to actively manage our investment in land tooptimise value for our shareholders. We continue to pursue our long term strategy for forward land and have made progress in the promotion ofexisting holdings as well as securing new opportunities. We expect a limitedincrease in the level of gearing in the first six months in line with ourexpectations. Housing market data which has become available since our Preliminary ResultsAnnouncement on 11 September has been factored into more recent forecasts forboth the sector and for Redrow. Until we can determine the extent to which thehousing market will be affected by the prevailing conditions it is difficult toassess the likely outturn for the year to June 2008. However there is anincreasing expectation that the interest rate cycle may have now peaked whichmay have benefits for the 2008 Spring selling season. In the current market environment, Redrow's experienced management team isfocused upon the fundamental disciplines of our business. The Group's strategyis clearly concentrated on our core competencies of sourcing developmentopportunities especially with a long term approach to land acquisition and usingour product portfolio and design skills to unlock value for our shareholders inthe medium term." Enquiries: Redrow plc 01244 520044Neil Fitzsimmons, Chief ExecutiveDavid Arnold, Group Finance Director Brunswick Group LLP 020 7404 5959Patrick HandleyJayne Rosefield This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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