Full year highlights
Group revenues up by 12.2% for the full year to £2,606.2m (2012: £2,323.4m), with completions (including joint ventures) of 13,663 units (2012: 12,857 units)
Average selling prices increased to £194,800 (2012: £180,500) with private average selling prices increasing by 6.0% to £213,900 (2012: £201,800)
Group operating profit before operating exceptional items for the full year up by 32.2% to £252.7m (2012: £191.1m)(2)
Operating margin increased to 10.4% (2012: 9.5%) in the second half and to 9.7% for the full year, up from 8.2% in the prior full year
Profit before tax and exceptional items increased by 73.7% to £192.3m (2012: £110.7m)
Net debt at 30 June 2013 significantly reduced to £25.9m (2012: £167.7m)
Outlook
Very strong start to the new financial year with a 29.4% increase in average net private reservations per week per active site for the first ten weeks compared with the same period last year
Private forward sales up 44.4% to £880.4m as at 8 September 2013 (9 September 2012: £609.6m)
Continue to see good opportunities in the land market that meet our minimum hurdle rates of 20% gross margin and 25% return on capital employed ('ROCE')
Group has outperformed on its target to reduce indebtedness and going forward expects to maintain an appropriate capital structure
Focus on driving significant improvement in ROCE with an 18% ROCE target set for FY16
The Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.5 pence per share payable in November and is adopting a progressive dividend policy with a target of three times dividend cover for FY16
