Final Results
Full year highlights
· Group revenues up by 12.2% for the full year to £2,606.2m (2012: £2,323.4m), with completions (including joint ventures) of 13,663 units (2012: 12,857 units)
· Average selling prices(1) increased to £194,800 (2012: £180,500) with private average selling prices increasing by 6.0% to £213,900 (2012: £201,800)
· Group operating profit before operating exceptional items for the full year up by 32.2% to £252.7m (2012: £191.1m)(2)
· Operating margin(3) increased to 10.4% (2012: 9.5%) in the second half and to 9.7% for the full year, up from 8.2% in the prior full year
· Profit before tax and exceptional items increased by 73.7% to £192.3m (2012: £110.7m)(4)
· Net debt at 30 June 2013 significantly reduced to £25.9m (2012: £167.7m)
Outlook
· Very strong start to the new financial year with a 29.4% increase in average net private reservations per week per active site for the first ten weeks compared with the same period last year
· Private forward sales up 44.4% to £880.4m as at 8 September 2013 (9 September 2012: £609.6m)
· Continue to see good opportunities in the land market that meet our minimum hurdle rates of 20% gross margin and 25% return on capital employed ('ROCE')
· Group has outperformed on its target to reduce indebtedness and going forward expects to maintain an appropriate capital structure
· Focus on driving significant improvement in ROCE with an 18% ROCE target set for FY16
· The Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.5 pence per share payable in November and is adopting a progressive dividend policy with a target of three times dividend cover for FY16