Clarion Funding plc
The following amendments have been
made to the quarterly performance update announcement released on
28 October 2024 under RNS No
8780J
Housing Fixed Assets amended to £8.68 billion from £8.66 billion
and amended to £8.66 billion as of 31 March 2024, from £8.40
billion.
All other details remain
unchanged.
The full amended text is shown
below.
CLARION HOUSING GROUP Q2 2024/25
PERFORMANCE UPDATE
Clarion Housing Group's Quarterly
Performance Update covering the period to 30 September
2024
Financial performance
The first half of the financial year
2024/25 has seen a strong financial performance. The unaudited
management accounts show a turnover of £541.8 million (2023/24:
£485.8 million), with an operating surplus of £137.4 million
(2023/24: £108.8 million) and a pre-tax surplus of £65.1 million
(2023/24: £30.4 million). The operating surplus increase has been
predominantly driven by higher rental income and increased surplus
on disposals, partially offset by the planned increase in operating
costs. The net surplus also includes a £2.2 million increase
in investment property valuations (2023/24: £6.5 million
reduction).
We have invested £41.1 million in
existing homes in the six months to 30 September 2024 (2023/24:
£66.1 million). The year-on-year variance is primarily related to
timing differences in the phasing of the work, with increased
expenditure anticipated in the second half of the year. In
addition, £204.0 million was invested in our new homes programme
(2023/24: £233.8 million), a reduction compared to the previous
year which reflects some later starts on site.
Housing Fixed Assets stood at £8.68
billion, up from £8.66 billion as of 31 March 2024. Drawn debt was
£4.56 billion, largely unmoved from £4.57 billion as of 31 March
2024. Liquidity increased to £1.37 billion (31 March 2024: £1.06
billion) primarily due to the successful bond issue in May, with
committed and fully secured funding facilities at £5.79 billion (31
March 2024: £5.56 billion).
Operational performance
Our independent surveys show overall
customer satisfaction remains consistently above the Group's 80%
target and was last measured at 84.4%. Repairs performance remained
high, with the most recent satisfaction score at 91.4% (internal
target: 85%).
Rent arrears have continued to
improve to 6.91%, down from 7.20% at the end of the last quarter.
We continue to offer bespoke support to help residents maximise
their income and manage their finances.
The Group has completed
792 properties during the
first half of the financial year - of which 78% were for affordable
tenures (2023/24: 606, of which 71% were affordable). The future
pipeline stands at some 20,532 homes, which we will deliver at a
pace which enables us to maintain a strong and resilient financial
profile.
Outright market and shared ownership
sales generated a sales income of £88.1 million (2023/24: £67.2
million), with a margin of 5.4% (2023/24: 8.2%). Market conditions
and supply chain costs have continued to have an impact on the
sales margin although more recently, development costs have begun
to stabilise.
Sustainability
Following on from the publication of
our new Sustainable Housing Finance Framework in April and our
Nature Recovery Strategy in May, the Group published its annual ESG
report in September. The
Making a Difference report
highlights the Group's commitment to sustainability across the
organisation, as well as the support offered to residents through
our charitable foundation, Clarion Futures. The foundation
delivered £935 million in social value between March 2016 and March
2024, which is in addition to the value generated by Clarion to our
residents and the public finances through sub-market
rents.
The Making a Difference report comes
ahead of the publication of Clarion's new Climate Transition Plan
later this year that will demonstrate an evidence-based route to
net zero by 2050.
Supporting our residents and communities
During the first half of the
financial year, the Group's charitable foundation, Clarion Futures,
has supported 793 people into jobs and 2,412 into training. In
addition, 35 people have been helped to set up their own business.
High demand for support from our Clarion Futures money guidance
service continues and 7,288 money guidance and financial inclusion
interventions have been made by the service and its external
partners.
Since April, Clarion Futures has
awarded a total of £297,423 in
grant funding to community-based organisations. One example is Edgware-based charity Keep Rolling Project, who will use the
funding to run a project empowering young people from diverse,
low-income backgrounds. The charity uses hands-on workshops
combining skateboarding with architecture to design
multi-functional public amenities, enabling young people to explore
potential careers in architecture, design and urban
planning.
ENDS
For more information, please
contact:
Andrew Hill, Director of Treasury
and Corporate Finance, Clarion Housing Group - 0203 840 0164
/ andrew.hill@clarionhg.com
Lucy Pond, Head of Public Affairs,
Clarion Housing Group - 0207 378 5555
/ lucy.pond@clarionhg.com
Disclaimer
The information contained herein
(the "Trading Update") has been prepared by Clarion Housing Group
Limited (the "Parent") and its subsidiaries (the "Group"),
including Clarion Funding plc, Affinity Sutton Capital Markets plc,
Circle Anglia Social Housing Plc and Circle Anglia Social Housing 2
Plc (the "Issuers") 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 Issuers 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.
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 an 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.
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