Taylor Wimpey sees FY profit at top end of guidance

Taylor Wimpey highlighted an uncertain market backdrop on Thursday, but said it now expects full-year operating profit to be at the top end of its guidance range thanks to a "focus on optimising price and sharp cost discipline".

The housebuilder’s profit range is of £440m to £470m. It also said in a trading statement that it still expects to deliver full-year UK volumes of between 10,000 and 10,500 homes.

Taylor Wimpey pointed to ongoing weak consumer confidence as high mortgage rates and cost-of-living pressures dent affordability. "However, we have attractive and resilient locations which, combined with our enhanced customer and marketing tools, has enabled us to deliver a good performance against a challenging backdrop," it said.

In the second half to date, the net private sales rate per outlet per week was 0.51, in line with a year earlier, while the cancellation rate was 21%, down from 24%.

For the year to date, the housebuilder achieved a net private sales rate of 0.63, down from 0.74 in 2022, and a cancellation rate of 18%, unchanged.

As at 5 November, the company’s current total order book excluding joint ventures stood at around £1.9bn, versus £2.6bn a year earlier, representing 7,042 homes, down from 9,153.

Chief executive Jennie Daly said the company had delivered "a resilient performance in what continues to be a challenging market backdrop".

She added: "Looking ahead, while the market backdrop remains uncertain, we are confident in the medium to long term sector fundamentals, with a meaningful supply and demand imbalance in UK housing."