Taylor Wimpey Falls as Rising Building Costs Eat Into Margins
Taylor Wimpey Falls as Rising Building Costs Eat Into Margins
(Bloomberg) -- Taylor Wimpey Plc fell the most in five months after the U.K. developer warned that increased building costs will dent margins this year.
The shares dropped as much as 7.6 percent, and were down 4.7 percent at 8:56 a.m. in London on Thursday. Taylor Wimpey led declines across most major U.K. developers.
Pete Redfern, Taylor Wimpey’s chief executive officer, said in a trading statement that “greater build-cost inflation,” especially for materials, will push margins “slightly lower” despite sales expected to come in slightly higher than in 2018. The company sees building costs rising about 5 percent this year.
The higher costs have been caused by underlying inflation and the impact of exchange rates on suppliers, according to the statement. Stockpiling of materials by developers has also pushed prices higher.
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