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Taylor Wimpey flags strong start to 2018 after annual profits rise
Taylor Wimpey said it made a good start to 2018 as the housebuilder reported a rise of more than 10% in underlying annual profit.
Pre-tax profit before exceptional items for the year to the end of December rose 10.7% to £812m, driven by improved performance in the UK and at the company's Spanish business. Total pre-tax profit fell 5.8% to £555.3m due to an exceptional charge resulting from a leasehold review.
After paying out £451m or 13.79p per share in total dividends for 2017, the FTSE 100 company intends to pay roughly £500m in 2018, comprising an ordinary dividend of about 4.9p per share and a special dividend of 10.4p per share.
Pete Redfern, Taylor Wimpey's chief executive, said: "2017 was another strong year for Taylor Wimpey and we enter 2018 in a good position with positive forward momentum.
"We have been encouraged by early trading patterns at the start to the year and despite some wider macroeconomic uncertainty, consumer confidence remains robust and market fundamentals are solid."
Revenue in 2017 rose 7.9% as demand for houses remained strong and UK average selling prices rose 3.5%, the company said. About 43% of total sales used the government's Help to Buy scheme, which lends money to buyers.
Trading in central London was stable as customer confidence improved during the year and business in outer London was "robust", Taylor Wimpey said.
As of 18 February, the company has forward-sold 47% of its houses for private completions in 2018. The total order book was broadly flat at £1.97bn compared with £1.98bn a year earlier.