Taylor Wimpey has released its full-year results for 2024, showing a largely stable performance despite ongoing market challenges. The report contained nothing that would be a major disappointment for investors.
The UK housebuilder completed 10,593 homes, including joint ventures, slightly down from 10,848 in 2023.
However, the company saw an encouraging improvement in sales rates, with UK net private sales reaching 0.75 homes per outlet per week, up from 0.62 in the previous year. Excluding bulk deals, the net private sales rate was 0.67, compared to 0.54 in 2023.
Average selling prices showed a modest decline, with private completions averaging £356,000, down from £370,000 in 2023. The overall average selling price across all homes fell slightly to £319,000 from £324,000 the previous year.
During 2024, Taylor Wimpey operated from an average of 216 outlets across the UK, down from 238 in 2023. The company opened 55 new outlets throughout the year, an increase from 47 in 2023, ending the year with 213 active sites.
The firm maintained a strong landbank of approximately 79,000 plots, only slightly reduced from 80,000 plots at the end of 2023. Notably, the short-term owned landbank increased by around 4,000 plots to approximately 66,000 plots.
The company has proposed a final ordinary dividend of 4.66 pence per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 9.46 pence per share, marginally down from 9.58 pence in 2023. This will be seen as a win by investors.
Customer satisfaction remains a highlight, with the company achieving a five-star rating in the Home Builders Federation survey and recording its highest-ever customer service score of 96%, up from 92% in 2023.
Taylor Wimpey was reasonably upbeat about their outlook after a strong start to the year.
“The start of the Spring selling season has been robust, and we have seen good levels of demand for our homes. Affordability – while remaining a challenge for many, especially first time buyers – is also moving in the right direction,” said Jennie Daly, Chief Executive.
“As a result, our total order book is up on last year, putting us in a strong position to grow housing volumes this year. We expect to deliver full year 2025 UK completions in the range of 10,400 to 10,800 excl. JVs and for Group performance to be in line with market expectations.”
The year-to-date net private sales rate to 23 February 2025 stands at 0.75 per outlet per week, up 12% from the equivalent period in 2024. Current pricing is described as flat year-on-year, though the company has observed some incremental improvement in market pricing since the start of the year.
Taylor Wimpey expects to remain active in the land market after approving approximately 12,000 plots in 2024, significantly up from around 3,000 plots in 2023. The company anticipates low single-digit build cost inflation for the year ahead.