Taylor Wimpey confident on year ahead despite profit slump in 2023

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey saw its operating profit fall 49 per cent last year as the number of homes built by the company dropped 24 per cent.

This morning, the FTSE 100 firm said revenue slid by 21 per cent to £3.5bn year-on-year and profit before tax sank by 42.8 per cent to £474m. 

Completions totalled 10,848 in 2023 compared to 14,154 in the prior year. The company guided for between 9,500 to 10,000 completions in 2024.

However, the firm said UK average selling prices on private completions grew 5.1 per cent to £370k and the overall average selling price of its new homes rose 3.5 per cent to £324k. 

The group ended the year with a net cash balance of £678m and announced a slight increase in its full-year dividend to 9.58p per share.

The results followed a tough 12 months for the UK’s property sector. 

High mortgage rates have hit demand for new homes, while inflation and labour shortages have pushed up costs for builders.

Still, despite flagging challenging conditions, Taylor’s chief executive Jennie Daly sounded confident for the year ahead.

She said: “While the planning environment remains challenging, we have a high-quality, well-invested landbank and a strong financial position which underpins our ability to provide investors with a reliable income stream via our differentiated ordinary dividend policy. 

“Looking ahead we are well-positioned in an attractive market, with significant underlying demand for our quality homes and are poised for growth from 2025, assuming supportive market conditions.”

Shares in the firm are down over two per cent this morning.

The FTSE 100 firm is one of eight housebuilders being investigated by the CMA after a damning report was published by the watchdog earlier this week. 

The CMA said it “found evidence” during the study which indicated some housebuilders may be sharing commercially sensitive information with their competitors. 

“Which could be influencing the build-out of sites and the prices of new homes,” they added. 

 The CMA has not reached any conclusions at this stage as to whether or not competition law has been infringed.