Taylor Wimpey sees profit at upper end of expectations

HOUSEBUILDER Taylor Wimpey said today consumer sentiment towards the housing market was improving and that it expects its 2012 full year profit to be at the upper end of its expectations.

The firm, Britain’s second-largest builder by market value, also said group operating profit rose by over 40 per cent in 2012 and that its full year operating margin would be ahead of that reported for the first half of 2012 and 2011 full year.

“2012 was another year of significant progress for Taylor Wimpey,” said chief executive Pete Redfern in a trading update ahead of the company’s full year results on March 1.

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“Two weeks into 2013, consumer sentiment towards the housing market is more positive than we have seen in recent times,” he said.

The company said average selling prices on private completions increased by 6 per cent to £197,000 pounds against a backdrop of broadly flat house prices in the wider UK market since its last trading update on November 12.

It said the value of its order book was up 14 per cent at £948m at the end of December compared to the year before, representing 5,966 homes.

Shares in Taylor Wimpey closed at 74.25 pence last Friday valuing the company at £2.4bn. Taylor Wimpey’s Yorkshire schemes include Bradford, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield, Barnsley, Mexborough and Wakefield.