Taylor Wimpey bumps up profit forecast despite cooling market
TAYLOR Wimpey yesterday upgraded its full-year profit margin forecast, thanks to a rise in sales, even as the effects of the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme launched last year began to fade.
Chief executive Pete Redfern said housing market conditions “moderated, but remained positive” over the summer, echoing comments made by other builders of the cooling conditions.
However, he added demand was healthy and the market was growing “steadily and sustainably”.
Sales for the year to date rose to 0.66 per outlet per week, slightly up on the same time last year.
As a result, the UK’s second biggest housebuilder said its operating profit margin would rise around four percentage points from last year’s 13.6 per cent, up from its forecast for a three percentage point rise.
The news sent shares up four per cent to 122.2p.
Analysts at Jefferies upgraded their pre-tax profit forecast by 2.4 per cent to £450.6m.