Bellway p.l.c. (BWY) Q2 2024 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning and welcome to Bellway's half year results. Some positive news to discuss on trading and growth outlook. But first, a few key highlights from the first half. We have delivered another credible operational performance despite a challenging market and from a significantly lower order book. Housing completions closed at 4,092 homes. Underlying PBT was 134 million. Dividend at 16 pence is around one third of the estimated full year return. and reflective of our previously guided two and a half times cover. And notably, our balance sheet remains robust with a healthy WIP position and capital to invest in land. Now, trading conditions have markedly improved since I last reported at our prelims in October. And you may recall at our prelims that I suggested FY24 was going to be tough and there was room for optimism in FY25. And that story is very much playing out, with the exception it's happening sooner than we envisaged. Improved affordability has led to an early pick-up in sales in January and ahead of the usual spring recovery. And as a consequence, that has reinforced our optimism and our prospects for a return to growth. We are seeing good levels of customer inquiries, higher reservation rates and healthy demand for energy efficient new homes. Operationally, despite the planning system, we can deliver meaningful growth next year. And the reasons behind my optimism, my confidence, we already have the land in place with the benefit of DPP. Outlet numbers and order book are both on track to grow again this year. And we have a healthy WIP position to meet the improvement in customer demand. And given these strengths and assuming market conditions remain stable, we are well placed to grow in 2025 and beyond. I'll discuss strategy and operations later, but first...