LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Residential developer Taylor Wimpey PLC (TW.L) reported Friday that total Group completions, including joint ventures, in the 22 weeks to May 31 were 2,455 units, down from 4,052 units in the same period last year. The decline reflects the impact of site closures following the coronavirus or Covid-19 pandemic.
UK net sales rate was 0.51 for week ending May 31, compared to 0.85 last year. The sales rate is now 0.72 for the five months to May 31, compared to 0.99 a year ago.
Order book remains strong with a healthy increase in reservations made in recent weeks.
As at week ending May 31, total order book value stood at approximately 2.78 billion pounds, up from last year's 2.52 billion pounds. This represents 11,228 homes, up from 10,557 homes a year ago.
The company is now operating on 231 selling outlets, down from prior year's 255.
Cancellation rates have remained at a low level during the crisis. In the nine weeks since the start of lockdown, there were 306 cancellations, compared to 386 cancellations last year.
The company said the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted activity in the land market in March and April with many deals agreed prior to the crisis not completing. The company now expects the number of attractive land opportunities to grow over the coming months.
Taylor Wimpey further said it is on track to reach meaningful production capacity from the end of June 2020.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX