Trading Statement

Taylor Wimpey PLC 31 October 2007 31 October 2007 Taylor Wimpey plc Trading Update Taylor Wimpey plc is hosting a briefing for analysts in London later today, at which management will discuss the progress of integration since the merger on 3 July 2007. Updates will also be given on current trading, the fair value review and the share buyback programme. Copies of the presentations will be available at www.taylorwimpey.com later today. Overview Taylor Wimpey is making strong progress on integration and we remain on track to deliver synergy savings in line with the previously stated value and timetable. Although market conditions in the UK are subdued and conditions continue to be challenging in North America, the Group remains well placed to deliver on its strategic objectives. Integration Progress We continue to make excellent progress on our integration targets. We are confident of achieving the synergy run rate targets of £70m by the end of 2008 and £100m by the end of 2009, in line with the previously stated timetable. Estimated merger costs remain at £60m. In the UK, we have been able to accelerate our progress on achieving synergies in both build and overhead costs. We are also identifying opportunities to improve working capital efficiency during 2008. In North America, the merger has brought us to critical mass in a number of our markets, enabling us to negotiate beneficial supplier agreements at both a national and a regional level. We have now completed a procurement and build cost benchmarking exercise and will have a set of integrated operational processes in place by the year end. Current Trading UK As we anticipated at our Interim Results on 31 July, market conditions in the second half to date have proved to be more subdued. Prices are stable, however we have seen reductions in both visitor and reservation levels which have been exacerbated by the recent turbulence in the financial markets. Over the last three months, we have continued to focus on maintaining our margin improvements rather than driving volume. Consequently we remain confident of delivering an operating margin of 14 per cent for 2007 for the pro forma Taylor Wimpey business, before fair value and accounting policy alignment adjustments. Completion volumes for the year are expected to be around 5 per cent below the 2006 pro forma volume. North America Market conditions in the United States have deteriorated significantly over the last two months, with turmoil in the US mortgage industry and a very low level of customer confidence. Heavy discounting by competitors has led to further price falls in many markets and a cancellation rate of c.30 per cent for our North American business over the third quarter. In contrast, our Canadian business continues to benefit from a robust operating environment. We are reviewing the carrying value of our land bank in North America and, given the changing market conditions, we expect to make further inventory provisions of around 15 per cent of North American capital employed at the end of the year. The final outcome of this review will be reported with our Preliminary Results. Spain, Gibraltar & Construction Market conditions on mainland Spain have continued to worsen, although on Mallorca and Gibraltar conditions have remained stable. Our Construction business continues to perform in line with expectations. The forward order book currently stands at £1.3bn, with significant contract awards across the business and, in particular, for our Facilities Management activities. Fair Value Review Following the merger between Taylor Woodrow plc and George Wimpey Plc, which was legally structured as an acquisition of George Wimpey Plc, accounting standards require a fair value review of the assets acquired as at 3 July 2007. We have now reached a provisional result for this exercise. The overall outcome is a net reduction of £26m in the book value of the assets acquired from George Wimpey Plc and a resulting goodwill figure for the transaction of £332m. The book value adjustments include decreases in value of £154m in US inventory and £34m in UK inventory. The review has also resulted in a valuation of the brands acquired of £140m. These adjustments are in addition to and separate from the provisions made against the carrying value of our North American inventory. These adjustments are expected to have a negative impact of approximately £38m on the reported profit of the combined Group for 2007. Share Buyback Programme Following the announcement of our £750m share buyback programme at the time of our Interim Results, we have now bought back a total of 52.6m shares at a total cost of £164.3m. Outlook In North America, due to the continued fall in both prices and sales volumes we only expect a modest contribution to profits in the second half of 2007. Conditions are expected to remain extremely challenging for the balance of this year and throughout 2008. Our strategy is to focus on recovering cash from existing sites, reducing the cost base, and focusing on the fundamentals of the business. In the UK we anticipate that market conditions will remain subdued into the New Year. However, long term supply constraints in the UK continue to provide support to the market and our strong progress on integration will assist our drive for relative margin improvement. -ends- Notes to editors: On 3 July 2007, Taylor Woodrow plc and George Wimpey plc completed their merger to form Taylor Wimpey plc. Taylor Wimpey plc is the UK's largest homebuilder and is a member of the FTSE100. Taylor Wimpey plc builds homes in the UK, North America, Spain and Gibraltar. It aims to be the homebuilder of choice for customers, employees, shareholders and for the communities in which it operates. For further information please visit the company's website - www.taylorwimpey.com For further information please contact: Taylor Wimpey Jonathan Drake 020 7355 8109 / 07816 517 039 Finsbury James Murgatroyd 020 7251 3801 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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