Taylor Wimpey's annual profits soar

UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey's profits rocketed in 2012 as the company completed more homes for a higher selling price.

Profit before tax soared 106.1% year-on-year to £185.3m as operating profit jumped 44.3% to £230.1m and revenues climbed 11.7% to £2.0bn.

UK operating profit margin rose to 11.5% from 9.0% in 2011.

Last year the company completed 10,886 homes at an average selling price of £0.18m, compared to 10,180 homes at £0.17m the previous year.

The group's total order book increased 14% to £948m at the end of the period.

Net debt was reduced to £59.0m from £116.9m a year earlier, due to the timing of land payments and a strong operational performance.

"During 2012, we've continued our consistent approach and focus on margin and returns, delivering a significant increase in profits," said Chief Executive, Pete Redfern.

"These results show the benefit of our short term land and strategic land asset choices, along with our sharpened focus on capital efficiency."

While the group said it is too early to predict the market for this year, it believes mortgage availability will remain the key constraint on the industry.

However, the firm has seen improvement over the last few months and hopes it will continue.

"This combined with a tentative improvement in consumer confidence, gives us grounds for cautious optimism in the short term," the company said.

Taylor Wimpey proposed a final dividend of 0.43p per share, up from 0.38p the year before.

Shares rose 0.62% to 81.60p at 10:39 Friday.

RD