The Taylor Wimpey share price (LON:TW) rose on Thursday following the announcement of plans to reopen their sites in May.
Taylor Wimpey has closed its UK sites after the government announced lockdown measures, despite many other construction sites remaining open, albeit at a reduced capacity.
The Taylor Wimpey share price rose over 6% in a reaction to the announcement which came as part of a trading statement.
The update would have also bolstered investor confidence in Taylor Wimpey as they revealed a gross cash position of c.£836 million, as of 22 April 2020.
Taylor Wimpey have recently scrapped their full year and special dividend in order to conserve cash. Today’s announcement will be welcome news to investors as it highlights Taylor Wimpey’s balance sheet is suitably robust to resume dividends, when house sales commence.
However, whilst sites will reopen, sales offices will stay closed for the time being.
Pete Redfern, Chief Executive, commented:
“Our first priority is always the health and safety of our customers, employees, subcontractors and suppliers. We took an early decision at the end of March to close our sites while we assessed in detail how to build homes without compromising on health and safety or quality. We are now confident that we have clear plans and processes in place so we can safely start back on site in a phased way beginning on 4 May.”
“In the period while our sites have been closed, trading has inevitably been impacted. However, we are still seeing continued demand for our homes and our sales teams have been selling homes remotely, and digitally, week to week. Cancellations represent less than 1% of our current order book. We have a strong balance sheet and have managed the business conservatively and are as well positioned as we can be in the very difficult circumstances.”
The past few weeks have been unlike anything we have seen before, presenting huge challenges for businesses and individuals, and we support the measures put in place by the Government to reduce the spread of the virus and safeguard the NHS and public health. I would like to thank each and every one of our people for their outstanding efforts and commitment, and the way in which they have come together, working extremely hard not only to support the business and its performance, but to provide invaluable help to their local communities.”
The Taylor Wimpey share price traded at 144p, up 6.6%, just before 10am on Thursday.
