LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Residential developer Taylor Wimpey Plc. (TW.L) reported Tuesday that its total home completions in UK in fiscal 2019 increased by about 5 percent with a record order book. The company said its results for the year to December 31, 2019 will be in line with expectations.
In its trading statement for the year, the company said it will deliver an operating profit margin of about 19.6 percent, compared to last year's margin of 21.6 percent.
Regarding UK current trading, the company said the housing market remained stable throughout 2019 amid more challenging conditions in London and the South East and at higher price points.
In 2019, total home completions increased to 15,719, including joint ventures from last year's 14,933 homes. During the year, the company delivered 3,548 affordable homes, higher than 3,416 homes a year ago.
Cancellation rates remained low at 15 percent, compared to 14 percent last year. Average selling prices on private completions increased by 1 percent to 305 thousand pounds, with the overall average selling price increasing to 269throusand pounds.
Total order book was valued at 2.176 billion pounds as of December 31, 2019, up from 1.782 billion pounds a year ago.
Taylor Wimpey is scheduled to release full-year results on February 26.
Pete Redfern, Chief Executive, said, 'Despite an uncertain political and economic backdrop in 2019, we have continued to experience a good level of demand for our homes and trading in the second half of the year was as anticipated. ..In 2020, we will continue with these initiatives and will also prioritise a renewed cost focus and process simplification improvements.'
Looking ahead, the company noted that 2020 will continue to be a year of change for the UK. The company starts the year with a strong order book and continues to target a smoother profile of completions throughout the year but expect 2020 to continue to be second half weighted.
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