The housing market took another knock yesterday with the news that construction giant Taylor Wimpey said its order book was down 19 percent on last year.
Six months on from Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey’s merger, Taylor Wimpey has said that orders at December 31, 2007 stood at £1.064 billion, against a pro forma figure of £1.316 billion a year previously.
The company has also said that it plans to write down the value of its US land bank by 15 percent, adding that it did not expect market conditions to improve over the coming year while its ‘strategy remains to focus on recovering cash from existing sites, reducing the cost base and focusing on achieving a steady sales rate.’
“Spring is likely to be more subdued,” said Peter Redfern, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey.”
“The data show that there are real concerns about the economy and that clearly has a knock-on effect on us.”
He added that he could foresee “a couple of interest rate cuts”
January 16, 2008
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