Taylor Woodrow is now notching daily gains, after the price was driven down by MM's during the share buy back, being managed well by the MM's and it is expected to break 300pence on the climb - consensus is that is PBT is 450M then 320p to 350p is not out of range. One to watch in the coming weeks and months, time to get on board is now.

The bonus is the shares just brought back would appear to be ammunition for a buying spree, now who are they going to buy ? They are held as treasury shares, I think something exciting is going to happen here soon.

Now ticking up nicely again :-)

I recently proposed TW as a buy for a last investment club meeting. Sound fundamentals. We voted for Bellway instead though.

Good news all round !!



Taylor Woodrow PLC
08 July 2004


The following replaces the Interim Results announcement released today at
07:00am under RNS number 6160A. The headline should read 'Trading Statement' and
not 'Interim Results'. The full text is unchanged and appears below.




8th July 2004

Interims Trading Statement 2004

Taylor Woodrow plc will be announcing its half-year results on August 3rd 2004.
In advance of this, the company is providing the following update to trading for
the first six months of 2004.

United Kingdom Housing

In the six months to end June 2004, our UK housing business sold 3,869 homes (H1
2003: 2,336) at an average selling price of 199,100 (H1 2003: 187,100).

Operating margins will be comfortably ahead of the proforma 14% achieved during
H1 2003.

At the end of June our order book and completions represented 75% of our
targeted 2004 sales versus 64% at the same time last year.

The integration of Wilson Connolly has been completed in line with our original
timescales and all regions achieved the targeted system integration dates on a
phased basis during the first six months. We remain firmly on track to deliver
12.5 million of synergy savings by the year end and 25.0 million in the full
year 2005.

North America Housing

In the six months to end June 2004, our North American housing business sold
1,500 homes (H1 2003: 1,386) at an average selling price of 196,600 (H1 2003:
188,400). Operating margins will be ahead of the 14% achieved during H1 2003.

In North America, we are 89% completed or reserved for the current year - in
line with last year.

Other business

Our Spanish housing business continues to perform strongly.

At the end of June, Construction's order book stood at 825 million (H1 2003:
749 million).

A 12 million profit on disposal of St Katharines will be recognised in the
first half alongside an exceptional interest cost of 41 million arising from
the redemption of the 9.5% First Mortgage Debenture Stock. The K2 building at St
Katharines which has been pre sold for 117 million remains on construction
schedule and is forecast for December 2004 completion, assuming no slippage in
the construction programme.

Debt

In a refinancing of existing bank debt, we completed two debt issues in the
first half. 200m was raised in the Eurobond market and $250m through a U.S.
dollar private placement. Both issues were rated BBB+ by Fitch. Core funding
requirements for the group are now all provided through equity and long term
debt.

After the redemption of the 100 million preference shares and 25 million
equity share buy back, gearing at the half year will be around 50%. A further
25 million equity share buy back will occur in the second half of 2004.

Land

We have maintained our land banks in UK and North America at similar levels to
last year and continue to buy land selectively using our risk adjusted valuation
criteria.

Outlook

In the UK, recent interest rate movements and media speculation have returned
the market to more normal conditions. However the continuing undersupply of
housing, good employment levels and the relative value advantage of new homes
are sustaining reasonable market demand. Accordingly we expect to complete
around 10,000 homes in the UK during 2004.

In North America the market remains extremely buoyant across our markets of
Florida, California, Arizona, Texas and Toronto. We expect to complete around
3,500 homes in North America during 2004.

In summary, based on our expectation of a reasonable UK housing market, we would
expect to deliver another set of good results for the full year towards the
upper end of current market expectations.


For further information please contact:

Jonathan Murrin 0121 600 8521 / 07816 518 718
Taylor Woodrow Investor Relations

Ian Morris 0121 600 8520 / 07816 518 767
Taylor Woodrow Corporate Communications

William Clutterbuck 020 7379 5151
Emma Burdett
Maitland Consultancy

Maybe of interest from hemscott


8th July, 2004

Trading Updates - Buy Taylor Woodrow (TWOD) at 244.25p and buy Galliford Try (GFRD) at 50p

By Rodney Hobson

Two housebuilding and construction groups have produced encouraging trading statements that reinforce the sector's message of continuing strength and both offer the chance for investors to defy the doomsters who continue to talk down the builders.

In the first six months of this year Taylor Woodrow sold 3,869 homes compared with 2,336 in the first half of 2003 and the avarage selling price rose from 187,100 to 199,100. Smaller outfit Galliford saw its completions rise at a more modest pace to 761 but the average selling price shot up 10% to 220,000.

In both cases the order book is more healthy than a year ago. Taylor Woodrow has sold or signed up buyers for 75 per cent of targeted sales for 2004 (64 per cent at this time last year) and is in line to complete on 10,000 homes this year. The Wilson Connoly acquisition has been fully integrated. Galliford has a record forward order book of 74 million, representing 35 per cent of planned sales compared with only 20 per cent at the same stage of 2003.

Both companies pointed out that restrictions of the supply of housing combined with high levels of employment continue to underpin the housing market.

In addition, Taylor Woodrow has stepped up housing sales in the US and raised its prices to more than compensate for the fall in the value of the dollar. The Spanish housing business continued to perform strongly and the construction division's order book rose from 749 million to 825 million.

Taylor Wodrow expects in due course to produce full year results at the upper end of market expectations, currently for normalised pre-tax profits of 420-440 million compared with 333 last time. It is on a prospective price/earnings ratio of 4.69 and a prospective yield of 4.49 per cent.

Galliford reckons its full year profits will be substantially ahead of the 12.9 million achieved in 2003. Indeed, analysts are already looking for more than 22 million. A rise in the shares this morning has driven the prospective P/E ratio up to 7.35.

Following the trading statements Seymour Pierce maintained its view that Taylor Woodrow will underperform the market and rated Galliford Try a buy, arguing that a rating of 5.6 times 2005 estimates did not look particularly demanding.

Taylor Woodrow is going to have to produce something pretty special to break out upside from this trend channel.

Taylor Woodrow has bounced down from the top of the trend channel as I thought it might.

It is still very much at the top end of its range, with the stochastic hardly having moved down at all. When I look at it on the 12th March, I suggested a stop loss at 165p.

That stop has now been triggered, and the up trendline has been breached. There could be some support at current levels, but a further fall towards 225p is likely. That is very important support, but if the price bounces at that level and comes back down again it could make the right shoulder of a head and shoulders with a target of 150p if the price has a series of closes at 220p or below. [Chart omitted.]

On the 22nd April I thought Galliford would correct to between 40p and 45p.
This it duly did, with support coming in at 46.5p. That is now a very important support level. If it is breached, the price will fall back to around 40p. It it can breach the blue down trendline, it will probably recover towards 55p. The immediate challenge is to close above 50p today. If it does, there's a chance of 55p. If the price subsides down from the blue trendline, that confirms it and makes the chance of a downside breakout that much more likely.

July 09, 2004

Tempus

Housebuilder enjoys sunny skies regardless of British weather
By Robert Cole



TAYLOR WOODROW, the housebuilder, has catapulted itself into the big league in the past three years with the takeover of Bryant and, more recently, of Wilson Connolly. In recent years the big is best mantra has held sway in the sector on the presumption that size gives firms the muscle to buy larger sites and benefit from greater purchasing power.
Taylor has hardly had time to digest these acquisitions and prove whether this really is the case, but yesterday it reassured investors that it was on track to deliver 12.5 million of cost savings from the Wilson Connolly deal this year, rising to 25 million in 2005.



Since the Wilcon takeover Taylor has managed to deliver a solid performance. With average selling prices moving steadily ahead, full-year profits are set to come in at the top end of expectations.

However, Taylor Woodrow is different from most UK quoted housebuilding rivals courtesy of its substantial presence in North America. Taylors international operations are often ignored by the City but this may be set to change. If the UK market cools the US business could provide an important counterbalance.

The company builds in sunny states such as California and Florida, where there are good job markets and a steady stream of new people wanting to settle. The US housing market is performing particularly strongly right now and people are buying Taylor homes as fast as the company can build them. Each of the states it builds in is at least the same size as the total UK housing market, so there is plenty of room left for growth.

Shares in the company have fallen almost 20 per cent since they peaked at 299p in April, putting them among the cheaper stocks in the sector. In part, this is because of the suspicion that the companys management team, which comes largely from outside the industry, may cope less well than rivals in a downturn. There is also a view that Taylors landbank may have been bought more expensively than some rivals because it only completed the Wilcon takeover last year.

The fact that Taylor is managed by people who are not dyed-in-the-wool housebuilders brings a welcome freshness in approach. Shares, which give an above average dividend yield of 4.3 per cent, should be held.

Going strong now, in the 280's and should soon be testing 300p IMO, would expect it to go to around 320 on this climb. The Fundamentals are excellent and do not support the present low rating.

Looks like we are going to the 300's after all :-)

283, holding well and more buys coming in.

UBS just stated this is a Buy, so thats good.

IC said sell ?? with some sound reasoning

far more sells than buys today - I can only expect more sales once all the punters open their copies of IC from the doormat.

Many in the sector are rising today - any ideas why?

A few comments in the daily papers might have had an effect, such as "house prices up" and "more mortgages completed for December" ?

We have been looking at houses north of London (although we live in Yorkshire at present) for the last year and have seen quite drastic price drops and incentives galore (ie deposit paid, legal costs paid etc.) maybe I am wrong but it doesn't look long term positive to me imho ?? Incidentally Yorkshire is generally similar, except a few hot spots which always are popular.

This is just our perception - could be living in a bubble I suppose ? Would be interesting to hear others outlook.

The suggestion of interest rate rises should curb enthusiasm.

I started it, and said 300p - and so to finish the thread now is the time to sell it.

Why do you think the US$ is so low ? Because if you want interest rates high (which Bush needs) it will screw the dollar and make it too strong - so let it go down and then rise interest rates and you get high interest rates and the dollar where it always was.

What does this mean - well it means that in 2005 expect US and UK interest rates up - by QUITE A LOT.

House prices will start to go down - then once they start to go down, the dump will come and a big drop.

TWOD to be quite low at the end of this year and 2006 - time to sell is now.

I have sold all mine :) at the 300 predicted at the start of the thread :)))))

Also expect the interest rates (UK) will rise if there is any sniff of a real house price increase, the US housing market is a bubble waiting to burst.

I am short on CWD and TWOD, expect both to fall but the present sector keeps rising and to some high levels over the last 2 days - doesn't do the margin account any good. As well as the opinion on the outcome of interest rates and housing the TA also backs up the theory and the 300p / 306p price limit, unless it breaks through the limit, but on the outlook for the sector I would have expected not to. You never know where the money will be thrown, as EK stated there are a lot of fools around with lots of spare cash. Just hope I am not one of them.

Minx