Housebuilders defy market gloom
Two significant housebuilders in the UK property market have defied weakness in the sector, and are expected to deliver strong results for the second half of 2010, Business.Scotsman reports.
This performance is in spite of the UK government’s comprehensive spending review, announced in the autumn, as well as the bad weather and snow in December disrupting building work, the website reports.
Housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon are both reportedly going to deliver significant increases in profits for the second half of the year. This is in addition to Barratt Developments and Redrow both logging good results recently, the report says, which is due to a focus on building family homes as opposed to flats to attract family rather than first-time buyers, who are struggling to get mortgages in the current climate.
Taylor Wimpey, which encompasses Bryant Homes, Laing Homes and George Wimpey, is expected to report it is back in the black with pre-tax profits of £51.2 million for the year, according toBusiness.Scotsman. This compares to a reported loss of £96.1 million in 2009. The bounce back is due to cost cutting in the UK sales growth in the US, the report says.
Meanwhile, Persimmon is reportedly forecast to deliver pre-exceptional pre-tax profits of £88 million for last year, which represents a big rise from the previous year’s profit of £7 million.