Taylor Wimpey share price edges higher after full-year profit rises

Taylor Wimpey recorded higher pre-tax profit in its full-year 2018 results on Wednesday and remains optimistic about future demand for its homes.

The news was welcomed by investors, with the sentiment sending the share price of Britain’s third-largest homebuilder up more than 3% on Wednesday.

‘2018 was another strong year for Taylor Wimpey with good progress against our strategic priorities,’ Taylor Wimpey CEO Pete Redfern said. ‘We delivered in line with our expectations, achieving a strong sales rate and record revenues.’

‘Despite ongoing macroeconomic and political uncertainty, we have made a very positive start to 2019 and are encouraged to see continued strong demand for our homes,’ he added.

Taylor Wimpey results: key figures

Revenues rose by 2.9% to £4.1 billion in 2018, driven by an increase in overall home completions for the year, which grew by 3% to 14,933, up from 14,541 a year prior.

Its strong output helped increase its profit for the year to £657 million, up from £555 million in 2017, with Taylor Wimpey’s full-year results coming in line with expectations as the company made progress on its strategic goals.

‘We enter the year with a strong order book and a clear strategy in place to deliver long term value for shareholders,’ Redfern added. ‘We are very pleased with how our business is adapting to our customer-centred strategy.’

Taylor Wimpey declares dividend and net cash rises to record level

For 2018, Taylor Wimpey announced a dividend of £499.5 million. Even with the sizable pay-out to shareholders, the housebuilder's net cash managed to rise to a record level of £644.1 million, up from £511.8 million in 2017.

‘A pledge to pay circa GBP600 million in dividends during 2019 clearly won't be a problem to fulfil. And the cash-generative nature of its business means the housebuilder could still have plenty of money left over,’ AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.

‘Housebuilders in general haven't given any signals that they want to start making acquisitions, but they are in a strong enough financial position to change their minds,’ Mould added.