Trading Statement

Home Group Ld

07 December 2023

 

Home Group Limited

Trading update for six months to 30 September 2023

Home Group Limited (Home Group) issues its unaudited Group trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2023. 

Commenting on the results, Helen Meehan, Chief Financial Officer said:

"During the first half of 2023/24 we have delivered a surplus before tax of £20.5m, which is 58% higher than the equivalent period in the previous year. We are mindful that the outturn for the second half could be challenging in light of the economic climate, including the impact of high inflation and our plans to continue to support our customers through these difficult times. We are also expecting higher maintenance costs reflecting our commitment to improve and maintain our customers' homes, an increase in the volume of repairs during the winter period and our zero tolerance to damp and mould.

Despite the economic challenges the sector is facing, we were really pleased to have our Standard & Poor's (S&P) rating reaffirmed in August 2023 at A - with a stable outlook. S&P recognised that we have responded positively to the pressures within the sector in our latest business plan by a planned reduction in our development ambition and reduced exposure to property sales.  S&P also recognised that there are levers we can pull if times become more challenging.

We remain committed to increasing the number of affordable homes we own and manage but have reduced our planned pipeline in light of the economic conditions.  Our development activity is subject to robust risk management and we will only proceed with schemes that meet our target development key performance indicators.

We continue to be focussed on delivering our customer promise, which was developed in collaboration with our customers and sets out what matters to them. Our customers are at the heart of what we do, and we continue to involve them in many aspects of our business, from conducting customer promise assessments to participating in recruiting new colleagues and influencing our procurement decisions.  Through our wide-ranging customer engagement and scrutiny activities, our customers can measure how we are performing and hold us to account."

The full trading update is available at:

https://media.umbraco.io/home-group-heartcore/4ztdts1r/trading-update-to-30-september-2023-v1-1.pdf

For further information, please contact:

Steve Hallowell

Director of Treasury and Investor Relations

M:  07736 097160

Email:  [e-mail]

 

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