Livewest Capital PLC Trading Statement (4143Z)

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RNS Number : 4143Z

Livewest Capital PLC

17 May 2019

LiveWest Trading Update for the year ended 31 March 2019

LiveWest issues its unaudited group trading update for the year ending 31 March 2019. All comparatives are to LiveWest's audited group Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2018.

Financial and Operating Performance

Operating surplus for the year to March 2019 is GBP81m, against GBP69m for the year to March 2018. Surplus on Disposal of Properties includes sale of homes outside our core operating area. Housing Properties (net of depreciation) have increased to GBP1,954m from GBP1,856m. Net debt has increased to GBP789m from GBP713m.

 
 Statement of Comprehensive Income 
                                          Year to    Year to 
                                         Mar 2019   Mar 2018 
                                             GBPm       GBPm 
 Turnover                                     233        231 
 Operating Costs                            (167)      (169) 
 Change in the value of investment 
  properties                                    1          - 
 Surplus on Disposal of Properties             14          7 
 Operating Surplus                             81         69 
                                        --------- 
 Net Interest Payable                        (24)       (27) 
 Movement in Fair Value of Financial 
  Instruments                                 (1)          2 
 Surplus for the year                          56         44 
                                        --------- 
 
 Financial Indicators 
                                         Mar 2019   Mar 2018 
 Operating Margin on Social Housing 
  Lettings                                    32%        35% 
 Operating Margin on Shared Ownership 
  Sales                                       22%        20% 
 Operating Margin on Open Market 
  Sales                                       15%        19% 
--------------------------------------  ---------  --------- 
 

Operating Margin on Social Housing Lettings has fallen during the year due to an increase in planned maintenance expenditure, along with absorption of a third year of imposed rent cuts.

Operating Margin on Open Market Sales has fallen during the year due to one poor performing scheme which has now been completed.

Customer satisfaction rose from 88.7% to 90.5% in the period. Void losses for our general needs and sheltered stock were 0.50% (March 2018: 0.51%). Rent arrears were 1.83% (March 2018: 1.90%).

Liquidity

LiveWest has liquidity of GBP300m, consisting of available undrawn facilities of GBP296m, and available cash of GBP4m.

Development

We completed 900 affordable units in the year (812 for the year to March 2018). We have a contracted pipeline of 1,835 homes (March 2018: 1,518).

Sales of open market and shared ownership homes totalled 399 units for the year (422 for the year to March 2018). We had 125 shared ownership stock units (March 2018: 111) and 2 open market stock units (March 2018: 28).

Board and Executive Team Changes

There were no changes to the Board and Executive Team in the period.

LiveWest Credit Rating

LiveWest and LiveWest Capital plc are rated A2 (stable) by Moody's.

END

For more information, please contact:

   Andrew Hart, Director of Corporate Finance                        01392 814444 

https://www.livewest.co.uk/about-us/investor-relations/

Disclaimer

The information contained herein (the "Trading Update") has been prepared by LiveWest Homes Limited (the "Parent") and its subsidiaries (the "Group"), including LiveWest Capital plc (the "Issuer") and is for information purposes only.

The Trading Update should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities issued by the Parent, the Issuer or any other member of the Group, or any interest in any such securities, and nothing herein should be construed as a recommendation or advice to invest in any such securities.

Statements in the Trading Update, including those regarding possible or assumed future or other performance of the Group as a whole or any member of it, industry growth or other trend projections may constitute forward-looking statements and as such involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance is given that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. They speak only as at the date of the Trading Update and neither the Parent nor any other member of the Group undertakes any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, occurrence of unanticipated events or otherwise. The information contained in the Trading Update is unaudited.

None of the Parent, any member of the Group or anyone else is under any obligation to update or keep current the information contained in the Trading Update. The information in the Trading Update is subject to verification, does not purport to be comprehensive, is provided as at the date of the Trading Update and is subject to change without notice.

No reliance should be placed on the information or any projections, targets, estimates or forecasts and nothing in the Trading Update is or should be relied on as a promise or representation as to the future. No statement in the Trading Update is intended to be a profit estimate or forecast. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by or on behalf of the Parent, any other member of the Group or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers, agents or any other persons as to the accuracy or validity of the information or opinions contained in the Trading Update (and whether any information has been omitted from the Trading Update). The Trading Update does not constitute legal, tax, accounting or investment advice.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

END

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May 17, 2019 05:53 ET (09:53 GMT)