Taylor Wimpey thanks stabilisation in the US and Canada for higher wins
BRITISH housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said stabilisation in the US market helped lift 2010 profit and led to several approaches for its North American unit, which is under the hammer.
Volumes and margins beat expectations in Canada and the United States, driving group underlying operating profit and pre-tax profit above expectations, the company said yesterday.
“Relative to our consensus expectations and our internal forecast, both (the US and Canada) outperformed in the period,” chief executive Pete Redfern said.
“I wouldn’t say a recovery quite yet (in the United States), but we certainly saw stabilisation at the back end of the year.”
The company is due to report results for 2010 on 3 March.
Taylor Wimpey shares closed up 6.7 per cent, helped by the improved guidance, and after it confirmed interest in its North American operations.
“We have received interest regarding our North American operations and we are in the early stages of evaluating these approaches,” the company said.
Taylor Wimpey put its US homebuilding unit Taylor Morrison on the auction block in November, after the operations were earmarked for disposal to focus on its domestic operations and lower debt.