Interim Results

Taylor Woodrow PLC 08 July 2004 8th July 2004 Interims Trading Statement 2004 Taylor Woodrow plc will be announcing its half-year results on August 3rd 2004. In advance of this, the company is providing the following update to trading for the first six months of 2004. United Kingdom Housing In the six months to end June 2004, our UK housing business sold 3,869 homes (H1 2003: 2,336) at an average selling price of £199,100 (H1 2003: £187,100). Operating margins will be comfortably ahead of the proforma 14% achieved during H1 2003. At the end of June our order book and completions represented 75% of our targeted 2004 sales versus 64% at the same time last year. The integration of Wilson Connolly has been completed in line with our original timescales and all regions achieved the targeted system integration dates on a phased basis during the first six months. We remain firmly on track to deliver £12.5 million of synergy savings by the year end and £25.0 million in the full year 2005. North America Housing In the six months to end June 2004, our North American housing business sold 1,500 homes (H1 2003: 1,386) at an average selling price of £196,600 (H1 2003: £188,400). Operating margins will be ahead of the 14% achieved during H1 2003. In North America, we are 89% completed or reserved for the current year - in line with last year. Other business Our Spanish housing business continues to perform strongly. At the end of June, Construction's order book stood at £825 million (H1 2003: £749 million). A £12 million profit on disposal of St Katharines will be recognised in the first half alongside an exceptional interest cost of £41 million arising from the redemption of the 9.5% First Mortgage Debenture Stock. The K2 building at St Katharines which has been pre sold for £117 million remains on construction schedule and is forecast for December 2004 completion, assuming no slippage in the construction programme. Debt In a refinancing of existing bank debt, we completed two debt issues in the first half. £200m was raised in the Eurobond market and $250m through a U.S. dollar private placement. Both issues were rated BBB+ by Fitch. Core funding requirements for the group are now all provided through equity and long term debt. After the redemption of the £100 million preference shares and £25 million equity share buy back, gearing at the half year will be around 50%. A further £25 million equity share buy back will occur in the second half of 2004. Land We have maintained our land banks in UK and North America at similar levels to last year and continue to buy land selectively using our risk adjusted valuation criteria. Outlook In the UK, recent interest rate movements and media speculation have returned the market to more normal conditions. However the continuing undersupply of housing, good employment levels and the relative value advantage of new homes are sustaining reasonable market demand. Accordingly we expect to complete around 10,000 homes in the UK during 2004. In North America the market remains extremely buoyant across our markets of Florida, California, Arizona, Texas and Toronto. We expect to complete around 3,500 homes in North America during 2004. In summary, based on our expectation of a reasonable UK housing market, we would expect to deliver another set of good results for the full year towards the upper end of current market expectations. For further information please contact: Jonathan Murrin 0121 600 8521 / 07816 518 718 Taylor Woodrow Investor Relations Ian Morris 0121 600 8520 / 07816 518 767 Taylor Woodrow Corporate Communications William Clutterbuck 020 7379 5151 Emma Burdett Maitland Consultancy Notes 1. A conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 8am this morning. Please call 0845 245 3471. A replay facility is also available on www.taylorwoodrow.com, to access this please contact Jonathan Murrin. 2. Estimated broker consensus for 2004 PBT, on a pre exceptional, pre goodwill basis is £429.2 million. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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