Half Year Trading Update
Summary by AI BETAClose X
Peabody Group (incorporating Peabody Trust and its subsidiaries) half-year trading update 2026-27
Peabody Group has today published its unaudited consolidated trading update for the six months ending 30 September 2026.
The results show continued strong financial performance and resilience in a challenging operating environment, whilst maintaining expenditure on residents’ homes and services and improving resident satisfaction.
Highlights for Peabody Group
|
|
Six months to 30 September 2026 |
Six months to 30 September 2025 |
|
Turnover (£m) |
537 |
522 |
|
Operating surplus (£m) |
141 |
156 |
|
Operating margin |
26% |
30% |
|
Overall net surplus for the period (£m) |
73 |
55 |
|
EBITDA MRI (RSH Metric) |
88% |
59% |
|
Drawn debt (£m) |
5,414 |
5,188 |
|
Available facilities (£m) |
1,218 |
1,082 |
|
Accessible cash (£m) |
100 |
106 |
|
Homes owned and in management |
110,827 |
109,322 |
|
Homes completed in the period |
1,274 |
658 |
|
Homes under construction |
2,809 |
5,175 |
Financial performance
Total turnover increased by £15m in the period. Turnover from our core operating activities increased by £21m in the six months to 30 September 2026, compared to the same period last year, whereas revenue from sales reduced by £6m to £42m.
Rent collection remained stable at 98%. At an average of £154 a week, our social rents remain substantially below private market levels and we continue to offer a wide range of support for residents. Our financial inclusion team helped 1,131 households during the period, increasing their income by a combined £2.2m.
We continued to review our property portfolio to make sure our investment is focused on homes that can be maintained to a good standard over the longer term. This means that we have a programme of disposals which has generated £93m during the period, including £61m from the sale of 174 empty properties that couldn't sustainably be improved to a suitable standard. We also received £24m from the sale of unused land and a further £8m from the sale of non-core housing assets. These proceeds support reinvestment in our existing homes and wider priorities.
Staircasing continues to perform strongly, generating income of £46m as shared owners purchased additional shares in their homes.
Our operating margin declined to 26% from 30% in the prior year reflecting increased spending on responsive and planned maintenance works, works to improve leaseholder properties and communal gas works.
During the last six months we started simplifying some of our historic bank borrowing facilities, which to date has generated one-off break gains totalling £22m. We expect to complete this process during the remaining six months of the financial year. As well as helping us manage our debt more effectively, it has reduced the net interest payable for the period.
Overall, our net surplus has increased when compared to the same period last year by £18m to £73m and we have continued to comfortably meet lender interest cover requirements, maintaining significant levels of headroom.
Our EBITDA MRI interest cover (calculated in accordance with the RSH definition) has improved year-on-year to 88% from 59% for the same period in the prior year.
We will continue to remain focussed on managing costs, improving operational efficiency and maintaining our financial capacity to invest in residents' homes and services for the remainder of the year.
Residents' homes and services
In the six months to 30 September, we spent a total of £201m on residents' homes, including £77m on capital improvements. This was less than expected due to fewer reactive capital repairs and a slower roll out of the planned investment programme. We expect work to accelerate in the second half of the year.
It also included £124m on repairs and maintenance, compared with £104m in the same period last year. This reflects increased work on external decorations, improvements to leaseholders' homes and communal and domestic gas systems.
Our latest Tenant Satisfaction Measures continue to show improvement in most areas and in overall resident and homeowner satisfaction. Satisfaction among residents who rent their homes increased from 58.8% at the end of March 2026 to 62.8% in September. Satisfaction among homeowners also increased, from 27.1% to 30.2%. While these improvements are encouraging, satisfaction remains below where we want it to be. We are continuing to develop more local, accountable services and improve the reliability of repairs and how we communicate with residents.
We have been working closely with our in-house repairs teams and external contractors to prepare for the second phase of Awaab’s Law, which comes into force at the end of November. As well as expanding our repairs teams, we’ve improved how we track reported issues and communicate with residents to make sure issues are dealt with efficiently.
New homes, development and sales
We invested £246m building new homes during the period, completing 1,274 homes. A further 2,809 homes were under construction at the half year, including homes being delivered through joint ventures. We started on site with a further 38 new homes. Our focus remains on completing our existing development programme while managing investment carefully.
Sales revenue in the period was £42m, with a further £48m of sales exchanged or reserved for future completion.
|
|
Reserved/exchanged |
Available |
TOTAL |
|
Over 6 months |
59 |
317 |
376 |
|
Between 3- 6 months |
29 |
264 |
293 |
|
Under 3 months |
37 |
91 |
128 |
The unsold properties comprise 93 market sale homes and 704 shared ownership properties, including 263 properties that are awaiting release due to snagging issues. The value of unsold properties is around £135m.
The sales market remains challenging, particularly for shared ownership homes in London, where affordability pressures and mortgage costs continue to affect potential buyers. We are managing the impact on our cash flow and development programme by regularly reviewing property values and initial rents that are charged on unsold equity. We are also exploring tenure conversion opportunities on certain schemes. We welcome the proposed increase in the income cap for shared ownership, which could help more people buy a home in the future.
Liquidity and financial resilience
We continue to retain strong access to liquidity with over £1.2bn of cash and undrawn borrowing facilities available at the half year. Our gearing continues to be relatively low when compared to our peers at 44%, and 67% of our borrowing is on a fixed-rate basis. We also have around 40,000 properties not currently used to support borrowing.
We continue to receive strong support from our funding group, with over £1bn of restructured, extended and increased facilities secured in the last six months.
We also have a strong balance sheet, with housing assets valued at over £12bn, an increase of £96m over the last six months.
Ratings and certification
The Regulator of Social Housing confirmed our G1 governance and V2 financial viability ratings in April 2026, alongside our first C2 consumer standards grading. Our financial viability rating was re-confirmed by the RSH in November 2026 following a routine stability check.
We are rated A3 (stable) by Moody's, A- (stable) by Fitch and BBB+ (stable) by S&P.
We completed the restructure of our issued public bonds in April 2026, aligning the issuer as Peabody Trust, the market as the International Securities Market and regularising the allocated credit ratings.
Board and Executive Changes
Martyn Burke stepped down from the Boards of Peabody Trust and Town & Country Housing on 27 October 2026, and Christine Turner joined the Peabody Trust Board on 28 October 2026.
Elly Hoult, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, will leave Peabody at the end of March 2027 to take up a new role as Chief Executive of Lifestone Homes.
Recent publications
In September, we published our 2025-26 Annual Report and Accounts, alongside our Resident Review, Resident Impact Report and new ESG Data Book. In October we published our new Sustainability Strategy and Climate Transition Plan. These publications provide further information on our financial performance, investment in residents' homes and services and our environmental and social impact as set out below:
- Group Annual Accounts 2026: shows how during the year we focused on maintaining and improving residents’ homes, while putting the foundations in place to deliver better services to residents in their local neighbourhoods.
- ESG Data Book 2025-26: shows our progress and performance against the 46 metrics in the Sustainable Reporting Standard (SRS).
- Sustainability Strategy and Climate Transition Plan 2026-2031: sets out how Peabody will reduce carbon emissions, adapt to a changing climate and make environmental sustainability a central part of how we operate.
- Resident Review 2025-26: summarises the year’s performance and achievements specifically for residents.
- Resident Impact Report 2025-26: outlines the positive impact residents have had on how Peabody operates during the year.
Commenting on the results, Peabody's Chief Financial Officer, Phil Day said:
"During the first half of the year we’ve continued to make progress in strengthening our financial performance, whilst investing in residents' homes and services and improving resident satisfaction.
"These are encouraging results, although we know there's more to do to put our finances on a stronger footing and to improve services.
"The market for new homes remains difficult across the sector, particularly for shared ownership, and we're managing the impact of slower sales carefully. We're also taking action to control costs, improve efficiency and make better use of our resources.
"We have good access to funding and strong relationships with our lenders, which give us the capacity to continue investing. We are focussed on continuing to deliver improvements over the second half of the year."
Statement of Comprehensive Income - Peabody Group
|
£ million |
Six months to 30 September 2026 |
Six months to 30 September 2025 |
|
Turnover - from core operations |
495 |
474 |
|
Turnover - from sales |
42 |
48 |
|
Total turnover |
537 |
522 |
|
|
|
|
|
Operating costs |
(412) |
(384) |
|
Cost of sales |
(40) |
(38) |
|
|
|
|
|
Surplus on staircasing/disposal of fixed assets |
56 |
56 |
|
|
|
|
|
Operating surplus |
141 |
156 |
|
Net interest costs |
(106) |
(102) |
|
Loan break gains |
22 |
- |
|
JVs and other income |
16 |
1 |
|
Surplus for the period |
73 |
55 |
|
|
|
|
Note: Figures quoted in the update are based on unaudited management accounts, which are subject to review and further adjustments.
Contact: Anthony Marriott, Director of Treasury & Corporate Finance or Ben Blades, Assistant Director Corporate Affairs.
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