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(Alliance News) - Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey early Friday said it is progressing construction on a majority of its sites across England and Wales, with Scottish sites now also starting preparation for a return to construction.
Total completions - including joint ventures - in the 22 weeks to the end of May were 2,455 compared to 4,052 a year earlier, reflecting the impact of site closures, Taylor Wimpey said.
Its UK net sales rate has increased to 0.51 for the week ended May 31 and is now 0.72 per week for the five months to the end of May. However, this is still lower than the 0.99 pace a year ago.
The company said it is experiencing a "very high" level of demand for appointments, as majority of its show homes and sales centres have reopened in England, though on an appointment-only basis.
Looking ahead, Taylor Wimpey said its order book remains "strong", with a healthy increase in reservations made in recent weeks. The UK order book has continued to increase. As at week ending May 31 its total value stood at GBP2.78 billion versus GBP2.52 billion the year before.
Taylor Wimpey shares were up 3.3% early Friday.
The key data point for markets later Friday will be the US non-farm payrolls report, due at 1330 GMT.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.8% at 6,393.43
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Hang Seng: up 1.2% at 24,652.65
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.7% at 22,863.73
DJIA: closed up 11.93 points at 26,281.82
S&P 500: closed down 0.3% at 3,112.35
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GBP: up at USD1.2651 (USD1.2592)
EUR: up at USD1.1372 (USD1.1333)
Gold: down at USD1,709.09 per ounce (USD1,713.66)
Oil (Brent): up at USD40.36 a barrel (USD39.28)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
0830 BST UK Halifax house price index
1100 BST Ireland balance of payments
1100 BST Ireland gross domestic product
0830 EDT US jobs report for May
1500 EDT US consumer credit
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UK retailers saw record online sales last month as trading more than doubled but it still failed to offset the impact of empty high street stores, according to new figures. The BDO retail sales tracker for May revealed that online sales more than doubled compared with the same month last year – the highest jump on record – as shoppers moved online, PA reports. However, retailers still saw total like-for-like sales slump by almost a fifth for the month. The research said that sales across stores and online platforms fell 18% against the same month last year, with the decline in sales slowing marginally compared with April. Non-essential retailers, such as fashion chains, have kept their doors shut since the government-mandated lockdown was introduced in March.
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German factory order data from April made for grim reading, with numbers showing the industrial sector badly damaged by Covid-19. According to Destatis, factory orders fell 26% month-to-month in April, and by 37% annually. The revised March figure showed both a 15% fall from February, and a 15% annual decline. "The new orders in manufacturing in Germany decreased significantly again in April 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic after they had fallen markedly already in March," Destatis explained. Domestic orders slumped 22% and foreign orders slipped 28% month-on-month in April.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BARCLAYS RAISES JUST EAT TAKEAWAY.COM-PRICE TARGET TO 10100 (8820) PENCE - 'OVERWEIGHT'
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BERENBERG RAISES XP POWER PRICE TARGET TO 4150 (3200) PENCE - 'BUY'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Waste management firm Biffa said that, for the 52 weeks ended March 27, revenue grew by 6.6% to GBP1.16 billion from GBP1.09 billion a year ago. This resulted in more than doubled pretax profit of GBP56.4 million versus GBP21.5 million a year earlier. Despite that Biffa will pay no final dividend, as part of its Covid-19 cash conservation efforts. This means its annual dividend dropped by 66% to 2.47 pence a share from 7.20p paid in financial 2019. "Proactive steps to conserve cash have included temporarily suspending mergers & acquisitions activity and dividends; reducing capital expenditure, operating costs, pay and bonuses; utilising government assistance where appropriate and securing the necessary support from our lenders and suppliers," explained Chief Executive Michael Topham.
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Service office provider Workspace said it had to deal with the uncertainty caused by Brexit and the UK general election in its most recently-ended financial year, which since have been eclipsed by the dramatic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pretax profit for the year to the end of March declined to GBP72.5 million from GBP137.3 million a year earlier, with a small reduction in underlying property valuation of 0.3% - or GBP8 million - compared to a GBP61 million increase in the prior year. Trading profit after interest, meanwhile, was up 12% to GBP81.0 million, driven by a 10% increase in net rental income to GBP122.0 million. The London-based company lifted its total dividend by 10% to 36.16p per share from 32.87p paid a year earlier. "Looking forward, we will undoubtedly see subdued levels of operational performance in the short term with a reduction in rental income," said Chief Executive Graham Clemett. "We believe that, with our well established flexible offer and the quality of our space and services, Workspace is ideally positioned to benefit as London recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic," added Clemett.
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Gamma Communications said it saw strong growth in the first quarter of 2020, with that positive momentum continuing into the second quarter. Although the company highlighted some impact on the rate of growth as a result of Covid-19, it said it remains positive about the prospects for the group both in 2020 and in the longer term. Gamma said its Dutch business continues to trade positively and as expected. It has seen similar trends to the UK - an increased interest in Cloud PBX products from new customers and low levels of cancellation from existing customers. Despite that, and as a result of the current market environment, Gamma said it has taken actions to reduce its operational and capital spend. The company's balance sheet remains strong, it said. Gamma had GBP53.9 million in cash at the end of 2019. Since that time Gamma has paid GBP4.1 million in connection with the acquisition of Exactive and GBP17.8 million in connection with the acquisition of Voz. Gross cash balance at May 31 was GBP46.8 million. Looking ahead, Gamma said it remains positive about the prospects for the business, despite the uncertainty around the depth and length of the coming recession.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Campaign staffs for both US President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden have been targeted recently by foreign hackers, researchers at Alphabet Inc's Google said, highlighting persistent data security concerns ahead of the November US election. A tweet from Google's threat analysis chief Shane Huntley said the internet giant warned the Biden campaign about "phishing" efforts from China and the Trump campaign from Iran. "No sign of compromise. We sent users our govt attack warning and we referred to fed law enforcement," Huntley wrote. The incidents nonetheless highlight fears about a repeat of a devastating data breach in 2016 involving the campaign of Hillary Clinton and a wide-ranging influence operation which officials said was directed from Russia.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
IGas Energy
Nostrum Oil & Gas
Gamma Communications
Rambler Metals & Mining
MP Evans
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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