Taylor Wimpey PLC confident about housing market and coming year

Taylor Wimpey said 2002 has started strongly as it confirmed it would announce a share buyback with its next results to use some of its excess cash.

Orders at the end of 2021 were worth £2.55bn with 47% of this year’s planned completions already sold, said the FTSE 100 housebuilder.

The group reiterated that it expects to expand its sites in the second half of the year as part of a planned increase in volume in 2023, while margins this year should return to between 21-22%.

Completions in the year just ended (2021) totalled about 14,000 homes, which is at the top of its previous guidance and a 47% increase including joint ventures.

Weekly private reservations rose by 20% compared to  2020  with average selling prices up by 3% to £332,000.

Pete Redfern, chief executive, added “We have delivered an excellent performance in 2021 and expect to report full-year results in line with our expectations. Market conditions remain supportive and we continue to see strong demand for our homes.”

Previous guidance for 2021 was for operating profits of around £820mln, which it is on course to meet added Redfern.

On cladding, Taylor Wimpey said it had identified all buildings both above and below 18 metres that may require works and is in active dialogue with building owners to undertake the repairs.

Provisions taken so far should be enough to cover the costs, it added.

Net cash holdings at the end of 2021 were £837mln.