Flagship Fin 61 Regulatory News (87ZW)

Flagship Housing Group Limited (Flagship) trading update, covering the six-month period to 30 September 2024

Flagship, the parent company of Flagship Finance PLC and a Registered Provider of Social Housing that owns and manages c.33,619 homes in the east of England announces its unaudited trading highlights for the 6-month period to 30 September 2024.

Flagship headline unaudited results and highlights

· Turnover up £11m on 2023 at £139.8m (£128.5m for the 6 months to 30 September 2023)

· Operating profit (including asset disposals and gain on joint ventures) of £57.3m (41% margin), up from £51.6m (40% margin) for the 6 months to 30 September 2023

· YTD Low Cost Rental Accommodation (LCRA) TSM score of 73.8% up from 71.9% at 31 March 2024

· Customer satisfaction at 86.4% in September 2024, the highest level in the last 12 months

· Delivered 162 new affordable homes YTD and on track to complete approximately 500 new affordable homes by year-end

· 67% of homes at EPC-C in September 24. 2% above FY target reflecting the Group's in-year strategic investment focus toward its 2030 target

· YTD void loss at 0.6%

· £47.5m invested (up from £46.8m in 2023) to improve our existing homes

· Gearing static year on year at 43% and healthy interest cover above 200%

· Liquidity coverage of 2.3x with £293m immediately available liquidity

· Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating of 13.3 (low risk) very competitive amongst peers in the sector

Message from Chief Financial Officer

Jonathan McManus, Chief Financial Officer at Flagship, said: "Flagship has delivered a strong set of results for the first six months of this financial year. The Group continues to maintain solid operating margins and stable liquidity headroom enabling us to continue investing in our existing homes whilst delivering a new affordable home programme of approximately 500 homes.

Our tenants tell us that repair times are one of the biggest factors in their satisfaction, so we've made it a priority to improve this year.

Work-in-progress repairs have dropped from around 11,000 in April 2024 to 7,700 by September 2024. The percentage of repairs completed within 28 days has risen from 60% to 78% in that time, with a goal of reaching 95% by March 2025. When excluding older legacy repairs (which we're prioritising), we're completing 99.7% of routine repairs within 28 days, exceeding our 95% target.

However, the broader economic environment remains tough. Interest costs aren't falling as quickly as predicted, and sector-wide cost pressures are impacting operating margins.

We're committed to smart investments, aiming for all properties to meet EPC-C by 2030, while preparing for Decent Homes 2 and other regulatory changes that are increasing costs.

We continue to hold our Moody's A2 (stable) rating, and we're proud to share that we recently achieved a Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating of 13.3 (low risk), putting us among the top in our sector and highlighting our strong ESG commitment at Flagship.

Bromford Housing Group merger update

In June 2024 Flagship Group announced our intention to merge with Bromford Housing Group. Significant progress has been made by both parties with an expected merger date in the first half of 2025.

The merger business case shows that the combination creates around £2bn in additional borrowing capacity over 15 years. This funding will enable new homes, large-scale regeneration projects, and investment in existing homes, supporting the new Labour government's target of 1.5 million homes in five years.

This is an exciting new chapter for Flagship Group and builds upon the robust financial viability that the Group has maintained over a number of years."