Taylor Wimpey reinstates dividend despite plunging profit
Taylor Wimpey is to reinstate its dividend to shareholders after a torrid year in which Covid-19 shutdowns and spiralling fire safety improvement costs pushed pretax profit down by more than two-thirds.
The housebuilder said that despite having cut its dividend when the pandemic forced it to close construction sites in the second quarter, it would pay a final dividend of 4.14p per share.
The London-listed firm will pay out £151m to investors if approved, on top of setting aside £125m to pay for cladding and fire safety improvements to its buildings.
Taylor Wimpey is to reinstate its dividend to shareholders after a torrid year in which Covid-19 shutdowns and spiralling fire safety improvement costs pushed pretax profit down by more than two-thirds.
The housebuilder said that despite having cut its dividend when the pandemic forced it to close construction sites in the second quarter, it would pay a final dividend of 4.14p per share.
The London-listed firm will pay out £151m to investors if approved, on top of setting aside £125m to pay for cladding and fire safety improvements to its buildings.
Taylor Wimpey said the funds would support building owners and leaseholders. It applies to the firm’s apartment buildings built over the last 20 years, including apartment blocks less than 18m high.
The retrofitting plan comes after profit slumped to £264.4m for 2020, down from £835.9m the previous year, a 68.4% drop. Revenue fell by 36% to £2.79bn.
However, the company said the figures were in line with expectations, and that despite site closures affecting the first half of the year, build capacity was nearly at 2019’s level in the second half.
Chief executive Pete Redfern said: “2020 was a very challenging year, during which our priority has continued to be the health and safety of our colleagues, customers, suppliers and subcontractors.
“Operating performance has bounced back strongly in the second half of 2020, with build capacity returning to near normal levels and strong sales.
“We are confident in the medium-term performance of the housing market and therefore accelerated our land purchases from May 2020 as high-quality land became available at attractive rates. We are now focusing on driving efficiencies across the business, the rollout of our new house type range and implementing our ambitious new environmental strategy.”
In total, the firm built 9,799 properties, down 39% on the year before, when it built 16,042.
The average selling price on private completions increased by 5.9% to £323,000, with the overall average increasing to £288,000, driven mainly by a change in the mix of properties that were finished.
It added that its forward order book stood at a record 10,685 homes at the end of last year, valued at £2.68bn.
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