Taylor Wimpey order book up by 10,995 homes
Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) confirmed via a trading statement on Thursday that its order book has grown, as house sales had made a positive start to the year.
The FTSE 100 company confirmed that up to 18 April 2021, outstanding orders were worth £2.81bn (2020: £2,67bn) or the equivalent of 10,995 homes.
Taylor Wimpey also reported that net private sales for the same period had risen to 1.00, up from 0.90 the year before.
The company will payout a final dividend of 4.14p for 2020 and a similar amount again at the half-way through the current year.
While there will not be a special dividend in 2021, the company said, the home builder said it will return excess capital to its shareholders. This position will be reviewed at the next set of financial results in March 2022.
Pete Redfern, chief executive at Taylor Wimpey commented on the update as the company readies for its AGM later today.
“The UK housing market continues to be resilient and we are trading in line with our full year expectations. With strong market fundamentals, customer demand for our high-quality homes remains robust and we are achieving a strong sales rate and building a healthy forward order book,” said Redfern
“The last year has been very challenging for everyone and I must again thank our teams for their outstanding efforts and commitment which have enabled us to continue to deliver for customers. It was pleasing to be recognised by the Home Builders Federation as a five-star homebuilder in March this year and we remain focused on delivering the highest quality service to our customers.”
“We are a cash generative business with a strong balance sheet and remain focused on our strategic priorities to drive operating profit margin while creating long term value for our customers and shareholders,” Redfern added.
