Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey’s pre-tax profit surged by 171% to £78m for the half year to 1 July 2012.
Taylor Wimpey said the rise on the £29.9m pre-tax profit posted in H1 2011 was due to improved operational performance and lower finance costs.
The group also posted a £22m pre-tax one-off cost: an interest credit from the resolution of an historic potential tax liability.
Taylor Wimpey completed 5,083 homes during the six months, with an increased average selling price of £176,000.
It had 6,890 new plots approved for purchase and planning consent granted on 1,565 plots.
The group said it had been encouraged by the introduction of a number of higher loan-to-value products since the start of the year, in particular NewBuy.
Pete Redfern, chief executive, said: “Trading in recent weeks has continued to be stable, in spite of the ongoing uncertainty in the wider economy. We welcome the recently announced Funding for Lending scheme, although it is too early to quantify the benefits for mortgage lending.
“Assuming the current stable market persists, we expect to continue to achieve improved performance period on period and to deliver full-year results in 2012 that are in line with our expectations.”
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
