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Taylor Wimpey slides into losses as house sales dry up

Published: 08:10 29 Jul 2020 BST

Taylor Wimpey -

Taylor Wimpey PLC (LON:TW.) the FTSE100-listed housebuilder, has reported an interim loss as the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown hit home sales in the half-year to end-June 2020.

The number of houses sold fell to 2,771 (H1 2019: 6,541) as sites were closed due to the coronavirus restrictions, though Taylor Wimpey said it now has 252 sites open, slightly more than this time a year ago.

Orders as at June 28, 2020, were also higher at 11,686 homes (June 30, 2019: 10,137 homes), up 15%, with a value of £2.9bn (June 30, 2019: £2,366 million) or up 23%, excluding joint ventures.

Pete Redfern, Taylor Wimpey's chief executive, said he was pleased with performance over a very challenging time, adding all employees had now returned to work and the company had repaid all furlough subsidies.

“We are now operating safely at c.80% production capacity and expect to deliver around 40% less completions in 2020, compared to 2019,” Redfern said In the results statement.

“This will have a significant impact on revenues and margins in 2020 and will have some knock-on impact on 2021 delivery. We expect to end 2020 in a net cash position in the range of £550 million to £750 million, dependent on the timing of land purchases.”

Revenues in the six months to June 28, 2020, fell 56% to £754mln, while there was a loss of £39.8mln against a profit of £299.8mln a year ago.

Taylor Wimpey cancelled its last dividend earlier in the year due to COVID-19 and said it expects to resume the payment of an ordinary dividend in 2021 (2020 final) and will review the special dividend in 2021 for payment in 2022.

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