Taylor Wimpey launches £150m shares buyback as profits recover

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said it will buy back £150 million of shares from investors this year after revealing that profits more than doubled in 2021.

Shares in the FTSE 100 company improved on Thursday morning after it highlighted a positive recovery in the housing market and said it expects further growth in 2022.

Chief executive Pete Redfern said the firm remains “confident of delivering modest growth” in house completions this year despite the uncertain global economic backdrop.

It came as the company revealed that revenues jumped by 53.6% to £4.28 billion in 2021 compared with the previous year.

This was driven by a 47% rise in UK house completions as pandemic restrictions eased, it said.

It also reported that profits rebounded sharply as a result, with pre-tax profits increasing by 157% to £679.6 million for the year.

Mr Redfern added: “I am very pleased with our operational, financial and customer service performance in 2021.

“Demand for our homes remains strong and we continued to drive significant margin improvement in 2021, as we optimise selling prices and maintain our strong focus on cost efficiency.”

The update came after rival housebuilders, such as Persimmon, reported positive trading earlier this week.

Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “In a clean sweep for homebuilders this week, Taylor Wimpey have come out hot with a strong set of results as revenue and profits beat expectations.

“As we’ve heard all week from peers, demand looks to be sticking around despite the price increases.

“Forward sales look strong into 2022 as buyers aren’t being put off by higher mortgage costs as interest rates rise.”

Shares in Taylor Wimpey increased by 2.6% in early trading on Thursday.