Taylor Wimpey declares dividend after swinging to profit in H1

Taylor Wimpey plc (LON: TW) said on Wednesday it concluded the fiscal first half in profit. The housebuilder also expressed confidence that its full-year operating profit will beat consensus expectations. Shares of the company were more than 5.0% up on Wednesday morning.

H1 financial performance

Taylor Wimpey reported £287.5 million of pre-tax profit for the six months that concluded on 4^th July. In comparison, it had posted £39.8 million of pre-tax loss in the same period last year when COVID-19 restrictions were at peak. Before the pandemic, Taylor Wimpey’s pre-tax profit stood at £299.8 million in H1 of 2019.

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The High Wycombe-based company noted £424 million of operating profit versus the year-ago figure of £16.1 million in loss. Taylor Wimpey generated £2.20 billion of revenue in H1 that represents close to 200% annualised growth. In 2019, its revenue was capped at £1.73 billion in the first half.

Full-year guidance

For the full year, Taylor Wimpey now forecasts roughly £820 million of operating profit that tops consensus estimates. The London-listed firm previously guided for 13,200 to 14,000 completions in fiscal 2021. On Wednesday, it said completions will print near the top end of the guidance after a record 7,303 homes it built in the six-month period.

Dividend and CEO’s remarks

On the back of the hawkish H1 performance, Taylor Wimpey said its board declared 4.14 pence per share of an interim dividend. Commenting on the financial update, CEO Peter Redfern said:

“Backed by last year’s equity raise, we stepped up our activity in the land market before competition returned, and we successfully increased our land pipeline with high-quality sites that will deliver a strong financial performance. We are progressing this land through the planning stages as expected, providing excellent momentum for growth, enhanced returns for our stakeholders and increased numbers of new homes.”

In separate news, Legal & General plc also reported its H1 financial results on Wednesday.