Last checked at 7 May 2020 16:23
LiveWest Trading Update for the 12 months ended 31 March 2020 including Covid-19 Update
LiveWest issues its unaudited group trading update for the 12 months ended 31 March 2020, with comparatives to the audited financial statements for the 12 months ended 31 March 2019, together with an update on LiveWest's response to Covid-19.
Covid-19 - Supporting customers, colleagues and communities
Our primary concern is the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues and customers. Our customer service centre is fully operational with all staff working remotely. Only emergency and essential safety repairs are being carried out, with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) being worn by our staff.
We have telephoned over 8,000 of our customers to find out how they are managing, prioritising older customers, those who are known to be disabled or vulnerable, as well as those living alone. We have also established a team of Community Connectors who have access to resources including accessing food, medicines, prepaid electricity and gas cards as well as mental health support. We are also launching our new Covid-19 crisis and hardship fund to support those experiencing financial difficulties because of coronavirus. We have pledged that no LiveWest customer will lose their home if they cannot pay their rent because their financial circumstances have changed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Other than essential field-based staff all our colleagues are successfully working from home, and the majority of development sites have closed down.
Covid-19 - Financial impact
We are performing stress tests on our business plan to assess the impact the many challenges the pandemic will bring, including a slow down in sales, an increase in rent arrears and wider economic impacts. As the performance update below shows, LiveWest is in a strong financial position to respond to the challenges of the virus.
Liquidity at 31 March 2020
LiveWest had liquidity of £375m, consisting of available undrawn facilities of £339m, and available cash of £36m. LiveWest Treasury plc sold £50m retained Notes in February 2020.
Financial and Operating Performance
Surplus for the 12 months to March 2020 is £59m (2019: £56m). Surplus on Disposal of Properties includes £12m relating to homes outside our core operating area (2019: £6m). Housing Properties (net of depreciation) have increased to £2,080m from £1,950m at March 2019. As a result, net debt has increased to £849m from £788m.
Statement of Comprehensive Income |
|
|
|
| 12 months |
| 12 months |
| Mar-20 |
| Mar-19 |
| £m |
| £m |
Turnover | 248 |
| 233 |
Operating Costs | (179) |
| (167) |
Change in the value of investment properties | - |
| 1 |
Surplus on Disposal of Properties | 20 |
| 14 |
Operating Surplus | 89 |
| 81 |
Net Interest Payable | (29) |
| (24) |
Movement in Fair Value of Financial Instruments | (1) |
| (1) |
Surplus for the period | 59 |
| 56 |
|
|
|
|
Financial Indicators |
|
|
|
| Mar-20 |
| Mar-19 |
Operating Margin on Social Housing Lettings | 32% |
| 33% |
Gross Profit Margin on Shared Ownership Sales | 25% |
| 28% |
Gross Profit Margin on Open Market Sales | 19% |
| 23% |
Sales as Percentage of Turnover | 24% |
| 22% |
Sales of open market (our share only, if part of a joint venture) and shared ownership homes totalled 451 units for the year ended 31 March 2020 (2019: 349). As at 31 March 2020, we had 130 shared ownership stock units (March 2019: 125) and 3 open market stock units (March 2019: 2).
Sales margins remain strong. House price growth, although positive, is lower than in previous periods.
Customer satisfaction was 89.4% (31 March 2019: 90.5%). Void losses for our general needs and sheltered stock were 0.64% (March 2019: 0.50%). Rent arrears were 1.93% (March 2019: 1.83%).
Development
We completed 1,158 affordable units in the 12 months ended 31 March 2020 (2019: 900). We have a contracted pipeline of 2,538 affordable homes (March 2019: 1,835).
Board and Executive Team Changes - 6 months to March 2020
LiveWest Homes Ltd: Jacqueline Starr was appointed to the Board on 1 March 2020. There were no changes to the membership of the board or the Executive Team.
LiveWest Capital plc: there were no changes to the membership of the board.
LiveWest Treasury plc: there were no changes to the membership of the board.
LiveWest Rating
LiveWest Homes Ltd is rated A2 (stable) by Moody's (June 2019), and G1/V1 by the Regulator of Social Housing (July 2019).
END
For more information, please contact:
Andrew Hart, Director of Corporate Finance 01392 814444
https://www.livewest.co.uk/about-us/investor-relations/
Disclaimer
The information contained herein (the "Trading Update") has been prepared by LiveWest Homes Limited (the "Parent") and its subsidiaries (the "Group"), including LiveWest Treasury plc and LiveWest Capital plc (each an "Issuer") and is for information purposes only.
The Trading Update should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities issued by the Parent, the Issuer or any other member of the Group, or any interest in any such securities, and nothing herein should be construed as a recommendation or advice to invest in any such securities.
Statements in the Trading Update, including those regarding possible or assumed future or other performance of the Group as a whole or any member of it, industry growth or other trend projections may constitute forward-looking statements and as such involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance is given that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. They speak only as at the date of the Trading Update and neither the Parent nor any other member of the Group undertakes any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, occurrence of unanticipated events or otherwise. The information contained in the Trading Update is unaudited.
None of the Parent, any member of the Group or anyone else is under any obligation to update or keep current the information contained in the Trading Update. The information in the Trading Update is subject to verification, does not purport to be comprehensive, is provided as at the date of the Trading Update and is subject to change without notice.
No reliance should be placed on the information or any projections, targets, estimates or forecasts and nothing in the Trading Update is or should be relied on as a promise or representation as to the future. No statement in the Trading Update is intended to be a profit estimate or forecast. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by or on behalf of the Parent, any other member of the Group or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers, agents or any other persons as to the accuracy or validity of the information or opinions contained in the Trading Update (and whether any information has been omitted from the Trading Update). The Trading Update does not constitute legal, tax, accounting or investment advice.