Taylor Wimpey has announced that its spring selling season progressed as expected, despite macroeconomic volatility and affordability challenges, particularly in southern England.

The housebuilder reported a net private sales rate of 0.77 per outlet per week for the year to 27 April 2025, slightly up from 0.74 in 2024.

The firm’s total order book value stood at £2,335 million, representing 8,153 homes—an increase from £2,093 million and 7,742 homes last year.

Taylor Wimpey maintains its high-quality landbank of approximately 78,000 plots alongside a strategic land pipeline of about 136,000 potential plots.

The company reiterated its full-year UK completions guidance of 10,400 to 10,800 homes and expects group operating profit to align with previous forecasts.

A final ordinary dividend of 4.66 pence per share is scheduled for payment on 9 May, subject to shareholder approval. This would equate to a return of 3.9% for the final Taylor Wimpey dividend alone, should the TW share price remain at 119p.

“The Spring selling season has progressed in line with expectations, with good levels of customer demand reflected in our sales rate,” said Jennie Daly, Chief Executive.

As a result, we are today reiterating our guidance for full year UK completions excluding JVs and Group operating profit¹*. Notwithstanding the wider macroeconomic backdrop, affordability is improving with lenders remaining committed to the housing market, albeit first time buyers continue to experience some challenges.

The Taylor Wimpey CEO continued to explain how the UK property market’s underlying demand dynamic will support growth for the group into the future.

“Looking ahead, we operate in an attractive market with significant underlying demand for new homes. With our strong, high-quality landbank, healthy balance sheet and highly experienced teams, Taylor Wimpey is set to deliver sustained growth and value for all our stakeholders.”

The FTSE 100 crept into positive territory in early trade on Tuesday before turning marginally negative as investors digested a raft of corporate earnings from several FTSE 100 heavyweights, including BP, HSBC, AstraZeneca and AB Foods.

The lull in damaging trade policy announcements and conflicting messaging from the White House has created a welcome opportunity for investors to refocus on company earnings.

Although the FTSE 100 rose in early trade, there was a note of caution evident in corporate updates on Tuesday, with HSBC increasing provisions for bad debts and BP reducing share buybacks.

In many respects, the soft results and evasive action by FTSE 100 companies announced on Tuesday are a reflection of the economic uncertainty the world faces as a result of Donald Trump’s trade policies.

HSBC’s increase in provision for bad debts indicates that it expects its customers to default at a significantly higher rate, while BP’s reduction in share buybacks demonstrates a degree of conservatism amid depressed oil prices and economic uncertainty.

FTSE 100 heavyweights: HSBC

Despite the rise in provision for bad debts, HSBC shares rose as the bank beat expectations and announced a fresh round of share buybacks.

“HSBC has kicked off the year with a bang, smashing past first-quarter expectations,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown

“A big part of that outperformance came from strong fee income in areas like currency trading and wealth management – two bright spots that helped support a solid showing from its more traditional banking operations. The numbers are a bit noisy thanks to the sales of its Canadian and Argentinian businesses, which makes year-on-year comparisons a little tricky. But strip out the noise, and the underlying performance looks strong.”

HSBC said it would kick off a fresh round of share buybacks totalling up to $3bn.

While the all-important share buyback helped HSBC share shake off any concerns about their loan book, BP shares suffered after the oil major slashed its buybacks amid ongoing questions about its strategy.

“BP’s making the best it can of a sticky situation,” explained Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Improved performance in it’s troubled refineries as well as action taken on central costs has helped eke out an improvement in profitability over the fourth quarter.

“But the difficult backdrop means the bottom line is still a far cry from where it was a year previously. Cash flow is under pressure too and that’s allowed net debt to creep up further. This is a key consideration for activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management and there could be further calls to cut costs and offload non-core parts of the business. This year’s disposals target has been upped slightly, from around $3bn to a range of $3-4bn, but that’s not really going to move the dial.”

AB Foods was the FTSE 100’s top faller, sinking over 8%, as sugar prices rocked their food business and Primark showed further signs of a slowdown.

“There is not much to celebrate in these results from AB Foods,” said Wealth Club’s Charlie Huggins.

The outlook in the Sugar business has worsened, primarily due to lower European sugar prices and an operating loss in Vivergo, the UK bioethanol business. Actions are being taken to turn these businesses around. However, the group warns that a return to profitability is likely to take longer than expected.

“Primark’s sales performance in the UK and Ireland also continues to disappoint. Like-for-like sales fell by 6%, worse than competitors, meaning Primark lost market share in the period. The recent resignation of Primark’s CEO Paul Marchant due to inappropriate behaviour casts further uncertainty and raises question marks around Primark’s culture.”

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca shares fell over 3% after releasing fairly strong earnings and profit growth in the first quarter of 2025. However, the update served as a reminder that the group was at risk of Trump’s trade policies which have cloudied Astra’s outlook.

“Overall AstraZeneca has demonstrated it’s a calm port in a storm, despite concerns about the impact on business going forward, if the pharma sector is hit by US tariffs,” explained Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown

“The company has recommitted to its expansion plans in the US, which includes increasing the company’s research and manufacturing footprint by the end of 2026.”

Howden Joinery was the FTSE 100 top rising with a 6% gain, helping to offset losses elsewhere in the index.

Ask most professional investors, and they will tell you that they see volatility as an opportunity.

While volatile periods such as the one we’re currently in due to Trump’s can be unnerving and some retail investors may not be entirely comfortable wading into fresh investments, it does provide all investors the opportunity to reconsider and perform an ‘MOT’ on your investment portfolio.

“In such times, doing an investment MOT becomes even more crucial, not less. Rather than reacting emotionally or making knee-jerk decisions, use the opportunity to recentre,” explained Myron Jobson, Senior Personal Finance Analyst, interactive investor.

For those minded to use the current market gyrations to evaluate their portfolio, Jobson outlines six top tips for carrying out your own investment MOT amid the heightened volatility:

1. Check your financial goals

“Before you even look at your portfolio, take a step back. Have your financial goals changed? Are you still investing for retirement or a house deposit?

“Knowing what you’re investing for, and when you’ll need the money, helps you decide whether your current approach is still fit for purpose.”

2. Assess your asset allocation

“This is the engine room of your portfolio. Are you still happy with the balance between equities, bonds, cash and other investments? The recent bout of heightened market volatility has laid bare the perils of being overly exposed to a particular region or sector. The ‘Magnificent 7’ tech stocks (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla) account for around 18% of the FTSE All World index. The fortunes of these stocks will deliver a greater effect on funds tracking the index than the entire allocation to the UK, which is just 3.52% of the FTSE All World index.

“Diversification is critical to good investing theory, so if you already hold a lot of US tech stocks, you need to think about how including an investment in your portfolio will affect your overall diversification and exposure to economic shocks that could affect the US’s performance.

“If you’re nearer your goal, you might want to shift to a more cautious stance to protect what you’ve built. If you’ve got time on your side, you might lean into growth.”

3. Consider rebalancing your portfolio

“Portfolio rebalancing is akin to tuning an instrument, where every component plays a crucial role in achieving harmonious results. Sometimes rebalancing can happen of its own accord because of market movements. 

“By rebalancing your portfolio, you will avoid the drift and align to your original asset mix. There is not a hard-and-fast rule on when it comes to rebalancing, but investors could benefit from making a habit to revisit their investment allocations annually or bi-annually.”

4. Review performance – but don’t obsess

“It’s tempting to focus on recent winners or losers, but don’t get too caught up in short-term noise. Look at performance over a meaningful timeframe – five plus years and compare it to an appropriate benchmark or peer group.

“Underperformance doesn’t always mean something is broken – but it’s worth digging into the ‘why’.”

5. Check fees and charges

“Platform and investing fees matter. When it comes to platform fees, percentage-based charging means the more you invest, the higher your fees. In contrast, a flat fee remains constant and predictable. For larger portfolios, the difference between flat fees and percentage-based charges can be striking.

“A lot of column inches are dedicated to the impact of compounding over time on investments and how it helps stimulate growth, which is important for investors to make the most of, but the opposite is also true when it comes to fees dragging the portfolio back. 

“While investors can’t control the returns they achieve, they can control how much they pay for investment platforms.”

6. Tax-efficiency tune-up

“Are your investments held in the most tax-efficient way? Using your ISA and pension allowances can shield your returns from the taxman. And with changes to capital gains and dividends tax thresholds, it’s more important than ever to make use of these wrappers.

“It’s worth ensuring that you are making the most out of the tax wrappers – especially if you’ve had a pay rise, changed jobs or inherited money.”