LiveWest Trading Update for the 12 months ended 31 March 2021

LiveWest issues its unaudited group trading update for the 12 months ended 31 March 2021, with comparatives to the audited position for the 12 months ended 31 March 2020.

Financial and Operating Performance

Turnover for the year of £245m is lower than 2020 (£248m) due to a reduced level of sales which were a result of site closures at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Surplus for the year is £46m (2020: £59m). The reduction is primarily due to higher interest costs of £10m and higher operating costs of £3m.

Net Interest Payable includes £9m on restructuring fixed rate interest rate swaps providing an interest benefit over the next 7-8 years. Operating costs were £3m higher in the period largely as a result of higher maintenance spend, including fire safety costs.

Surplus on Disposal of Properties includes £14m (2020: £14m) relating to homes outside our core operating area.

* Gross Profit Margin Percentage on Open Market Sales is before an accrual for additional work required on an historical scheme. The Margin falls to 15% with this included.

Sales of open market (our share only, if part of a joint venture) and shared ownership homes totalled 335 units for the year (2020: 451).

Sales and margins remain strong albeit with a reduction in build levels. As at 31 March 2021, we had 100 shared ownership stock units (2020: 130) and 8 open market stock units (our share only, if part of a joint venture) (2020: 3).

Housing Properties (net of depreciation) have increased to £2,140m from £2,083m at March 2020. Net Debt has remained relatively static at £851m (2020: £848m).

Customer satisfaction is 89% (2020: 89%). Void losses for our general needs and sheltered stock were 0.47% (2020: 0.64%). Rent arrears were 2.02% (2020: 1.93%).

Liquidity

In February 2021 we issued a £250m (of which £100m is retained) 2056 Note from our EMTN Programme at an all-in rate of 1.904%.

At 31 March 2021 LiveWest had liquidity of £467m, consisting of available undrawn facilities of £426m, and available cash of £41m. LiveWest remains in a strong financial position to respond to the challenges of the pandemic.

Development

701 affordable units were handed over in 2021 (2020: 1,158) due to site closures in the year as a result of Covid-19. We have a contracted pipeline of 2,502 affordable homes (2020: 2,538).

Covid-19 - Supporting customers, colleagues and communities

Since 1 September we have offered a full repairs service to our customers whilst maintaining staff and customer safety in line with government guidelines. 

We have also expanded our crisis and hardship grants programme to support customers in financial difficulties.

Board and Executive Team Changes - 6 months to March 2021

LiveWest Homes Ltd: Jill Farrar retired from the Executive Team in October 2020. Tim Larner retired from the Board in November 2020.

LiveWest Treasury plc: there were no changes to the membership of the board.

LiveWest Rating

LiveWest Homes Ltd is rated A2 (stable) by Moody's (Jan 2021), and G1/V1 by the Regulator of Social Housing (Jan 2021).

END

For more information, please contact:

Andrew Hart, Director of Corporate Finance  01392 814444

https://www.livewest.co.uk/about-us/for-investors

Disclaimer

The information contained herein (the "Trading Update") has been prepared by LiveWest Homes Limited (the "Parent") and its subsidiaries (the "Group"), including LiveWest Treasury plc (the "Issuer") and is for information purposes only.

The Trading Update should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities issued by the Parent, the Issuer or any other member of the Group, or any interest in any such securities, and nothing herein should be construed as a recommendation or advice to invest in any such securities.

Statements in the Trading Update, including those regarding possible or assumed future or other performance of the Group as a whole or any member of it, industry growth or other trend projections may constitute forward-looking statements and as such involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance is given that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. They speak only as at the date of the Trading Update and neither the Parent nor any other member of the Group undertakes any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, occurrence of unanticipated events or otherwise. The information contained in the Trading Update is unaudited.

None of the Parent, any member of the Group or anyone else is under any obligation to update or keep current the information contained in the Trading Update. The information in the Trading Update is subject to verification, does not purport to be comprehensive, is provided as at the date of the Trading Update and is subject to change without notice.

No reliance should be placed on the information or any projections, targets, estimates or forecasts and nothing in the Trading Update is or should be relied on as a promise or representation as to the future. No statement in the Trading Update is intended to be a profit estimate or forecast. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by or on behalf of the Parent, any other member of the Group or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers, agents or any other persons as to the accuracy or validity of the information or opinions contained in the Trading Update (and whether any information has been omitted from the Trading Update). The Trading Update does not constitute legal, tax, accounting or investment advice.

Figures quoted in the update are based on unaudited management accounts which are subject to review and further adjustments, for example in the areas of pensions, investment property valuation and taxation.