Taylor Wimpey says UK housing market stable
UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said it would post an improvement in all key financial metrics at its first-half results and joined peers in reporting that the UK housing market remained stable in the first half of 2012.
In the short-term, if the stable market conditions continue, the group expects to continue posting a better performance period-on-period, with full-year returns in 2012 that are ahead of cost of capital and in line with expectations, it said.
Britain’s second-biggest housebuilder by volume completed 5,083 homes in the first half, up from 4,707 in the first half of 2011, with the overall average selling price of the completions increasing to £175,000 from £168,000.
“While we retain an overall cautious approach, maintaining tight control over the level of debt and exposure to land creditors, we continue to take advantage of selective opportunities to acquire land at attractive return levels,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Taylor Wimpey’s order book grew to £960m as of July 1, up from £932m a year earlier.