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House builder Taylor Wimpey said it may launch a share buyback after a 47% jump in home completions but it on track to meet its annual profit guidance.
Taylor Wimpey said it remained committed to returning excess cash to shareholders and would announce specific quantities with its result for the year through December on 3 March.
'It is the board's current intention to return this cash by way of a share buyback, however the final method of return will be determined at the time of the full-year results in light of prevailing circumstances,' it said.
Chief executive Pete Redfern said the company had delivered an 'excellent' performance in 2021 and expected to report full-year results in line with its expectations.
Those expectations were for an operating profit including joint ventures of around £820 million, with UK completions expected to be towards the upper end of the guidance range of 13,200 to 14,000.
'Market conditions remain supportive and we continue to see strong demand for our homes,' Redfern said.
'Our strategy of optimising sales rates, prices and operational excellence and efficiencies is enabling us to drive a significant improvement in operating margin.'
Total UK home completions, including joint ventures, increased by 47% to 14,087 in 2021, with a net private reservation rate of 0.91 homes per outlet per week.
Average selling prices on private completions increased 3% to £332k, while the overall average selling price increasing to £300k, up from £288k.
Looking forward, Taylor Wimpey said it had started 2022 in a very strong position with an 'excellent order book' and was 47% forward sold for 2022.
'Despite wider economic uncertainty, forward indicators continue to show good underlying demand for our homes and pricing remains positive,' it said.
'With a strong focus on optimising sales prices, cost, process simplification and other core value drivers, we are confident in achieving our primary performance target to return the business to a 21-22% operating margin.'