Taylor Wimpey Share Price Rose 5% After H1’23 Profits Fell 44.5%

The Taylor Wimpey plc (LON: TW) share price rose 5% after releasing the financial results for the first half of its fiscal year ended on 2 July 2023. The company reported that its revenues fell 21% to £1,64 billion from last year’s £2.1 billion. The firm’s operating profits also fell 44.5% to £235.6 million from £424.6 million in the previous year. 

The home construction company noted that its group operating profit margin shrunk 6% to 14.4% from 20.4% in the previous year. The company also revealed that it had completed 5,120 homes compared to 6,922 in H1 2022. 

Still, Taylor Wimpey shareholders have a reason to smile since the company declared a 4.79p per share interim dividend, marking an increase from last year’s 4.62p dividend payout. The dividend payout was aligned with the company's goal of returning 7.5% of its net assets to shareholders. 

The homebuilding company revised its full-year completion target, saying it expects to complete 10,000 to 10,500 homes during the 2023 fiscal year. The company also expects its full-year operating profits to be between £440 million and £470 million. 

Taylor Wimpey ended the half-year with net cash of £654.9 million, a slight improvement from the £642.4 million recorded in H1 2022. The company noted that the total UK average selling price increased by 6.7% to £320k compared to £300k in H1 2022 due to house price growth.  

Taylor Wimpey’s CEO, Jennie Daly, commented: “The first half of the year has been characterised by variable market conditions, including substantially higher mortgage rates. While this has inevitably impacted our results, I am pleased that we have delivered a resilient performance with first-half completions slightly ahead of our expectations.” 

“This performance is a testament to the hard work of our teams on the ground and our strong focus on operational excellence and tight cost management. As we move into the second half of the year, our focus remains on optimising all areas of our operations as we continue to support our customers during this uncertain period.”

Taylor Wimpey share price. 

The Taylor Wimpey share price rose 5.00% to trade at 119.47p, from Tuesday’s closing price of 113.78.