Taylor Wimpey cuts profit guidance, swings to big H1 loss

(Sharecast News) - Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has cut its annual profit guidance by £20m and reduced its interim dividend after swinging to a big loss in the first half due to one-off exceptional charges. Group operating profits are now expected to come in at £424m over 2025, down from April's guidance of £444m, due to charges relating to principal contractor remediation works on a historical site.

The company also raised its cladding fire safety provision by £222m, owing largely to increased cavity barrier remediation behind brickwork and render, reflecting findings from updated fire risk assessments and investigations in the first half.

"The safety of our customers remains our highest priority - this principle has consistently guided our approach, and we have increased our cladding fire safety provision to reflect findings from updated fire risk assessments and investigations in the first half," said chief executive Jennie Daly.

That charge, along with the already announced £18m provision related to a Competition and Markets Authority probe into the sector - Taylor Wimpey was one of seven major housebuilders that agreed to make a voluntary contribution into affordable housing programmes to address the CMA's concerns about the sharing of potentially sensitive information - resulted in a pre-tax loss of £92.1m for the for six months of 2025, compared with a £99.7m profit the year before.

As a result, the interim dividend was reduced to 4.67p per share, down from 4.8p previously.

"We delivered a good underlying performance in the first half of 2025 in line with our expectations, notwithstanding softer market conditions in the second quarter," said chief executive Jennie Daly.

"While affordability remains constrained, particularly amongst first-time buyers, lenders remain committed to the UK mortgage market and long term fundamentals are positive, with significant unmet need for UK housing."

Taylor Wimpey said group revenues were up 9% year-on-year at £1.65bn, with completions including JVs up 11% at 5,264 homes and average selling prices up 1.3% at £313,000.

The target for UK completions excluding joint ventures has remained the same at 10,400 to 10,800.