The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Rajesh Patki - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst
: I've got 2 questions for each. First one is on the piece. For H1, seem to be driven in large part by a change in mix between private and affordable?
Can you help us understand the completion mix for the first half? And would you expect that to normalize in the second half?
And the second question is in terms of the delivery profile of the forward order book. Can you help us better understand how that differs on private
and affordable as well?
Question: Rajesh Patki - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst
: Yes. That's great.
Question: Christopher James Millington - Numis Securities Limited, Research Division - Analyst
: A few quick ones for me, please, if I could. Can you just comment on what your outlook is for the site number profile? Just in light of that slightly
more cautious land spend over the last 18 months or so? Second one is just really if there's been any regional variance. I presume Scotland's probably
lagged in the numbers because of the later opening, but perhaps more on a run rate, I'm interested in. And then the final one is just around mortgage
availability and down valuations and whether or not you're seeing any change there?
Question: Christopher James Millington - Numis Securities Limited, Research Division - Analyst
: Yes. Just to push you a little bit further. If we do see the rate normalize back to previous levels, can -- your outlook partly to stay flat over the
foreseeable future?
Question: Aynsley Lammin - Canaccord Genuity Corp., Research Division - Analyst
: Just a couple of questions. First of all, on the reservations, up 30% last 6 weeks. I wonder if you could give a bit more color. Has that been progressively
increased and improving week by week, though, obviously, as it has last week, would that be significantly higher than the 30%? Have you been
doing anything in terms of changes in census, more part-exchange or anything to boost that number? And then second question, just on the
cancellation rate, you say it's been in line with historical trends. Just interested in a bit of color there again, what's the pattern being like over, I
guess, since the end of March? Has it been consistently in-line or has it kind of improved recently having spiked a bit post the lockdown?
Question: Aynsley Lammin - Canaccord Genuity Corp., Research Division - Analyst
: You okay with that, Mike?
Question: Gavin Andrew Jago - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division - Analyst
: Just a couple of topics, gents. First one's on Part Ex. You touched on it earlier, Mike, but just in terms of the usage through the first half, and I guess
if you look at it through last year, about 6% of revenue. You don't use it that much in the first half. Is that because you haven't needed to? Or is
there, I guess, a little bit of fear about the second half market? Could you just talk us through how that's been working? And the second one is just
really around, I guess, the mortgage market, Help to Buy and, I guess, the strength of your balance sheet. I guess, if you look in medium term, maybe
you could call it a downside scenario, but if Help to Buy comes to an end, the government don't accelerate. What's your kind of appetite kind of
using the balance sheet, I guess, the share active at the mortgage market is also still got a lack of higher CD mortgages?
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