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House builder Taylor Wimpey tops FTSE as UK property boom continues

A building site in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. Photo: Getty
A building site in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. Photo: Getty (Travelpix Ltd via Getty Images)

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW.L) led gains in the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) on Tuesday morning in London, rising as much as 4.4% off the back of what it called a "record first-half performance".

In the six months to 4 July, Taylor Wimpey reported revenue of £2.2bn, nearly triple 2020’s revenue and 26.8% beyond 2019.

This reflected a record number of completions, due in part to delays in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Delayed 2020 home completions saw first-half 2021 completions rise to 7,303 homes excluding joint ventures. The same metric sat at 2,771 in 2020.

Full year completions are expected to come in near the top end of guidance for between 13,200 and 14,000 homes. Operating profit is forecast to be around £820m, exceeding previous expectations.

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The group will pay an interim dividend of 4.14p per share.

Taylor Wimpey stock rose on news of record completions. Chart: Yahoo Finance UK
Taylor Wimpey stock rose on news of record completions. Chart: Yahoo Finance UK

“Yet for all of this good news, the shares still trade some 30% below their early-2020 peak," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

"This may reflect nagging concerns over the long-term economic impact of the pandemic, the ongoing Competition and Markets Authority investigation into how leasehold dwellings were sold and also the prospect of a Residential Property Developer Tax, which the Government intends to launch in 2022 to help meet the cost of cladding remediation work – Taylor Wimpey has already set aside some £165 million for this, in two chunks, to cover fire safety improvements at apartment buildings built over the past 20 years."

Read more: UK petrol prices hit eight-year high

Meanwhile, LSL Property Services (LSL.L) stock headed 3.2% lower by late-morning in London, despite it saying it had a strong balance sheet and healthy revenue growth for the first half.

The residential property provider said it is likely that there will be a reduction in activity in the second half, bringing it below recent peaks. Unusual market conditions have led its profit to be more heavily weighted to the first half of the year, it said, but that would revert in 2022.

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