03:00 Thu 30 Apr 2020
Bellway PLC - Covid-19 Update
COVID-19 Update
Thursday 30 April
Ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, customers and subcontractors
Throughout this crisis, our priority has been to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, customers, and subcontract workers. As part of this commitment and following the Prime Minister's announcement on
Actions to date
In addition to prioritising health and safety, the Board has taken several other actions in order to ensure the continued long-term resilience of the Group. These include:-
§ Postponing the decision in relation to the payment of the interim dividend until a time when there is more certainty with regards to the future economic outlook;
§ Deferring all discretionary land expenditure;
§ Introducing a moratorium on all new recruitment activity;
§ Supporting customers, where appropriate and for properties where the construction process has concluded, to legally complete the purchase of their new home; and
§ Responding to all customer care queries via telephone or email, whilst at the same time suspending all but essential home visits.
Furthermore, in recognition of the disruption that COVID-19 is having on communities across the country, the Board of Directors has volunteered a temporary 20% reduction in basic salary and fees, effective from 1 April until 31 May 2020. This will be donated to various charities and
The purpose of this overall approach is to conserve cash and protect liquidity, maintain high standards of service for our customers, insofar as is operationally possible, and safeguard the long-term inherent potential within the business.
A responsible approach to site openings
The construction industry is a significant contributor to the
Over recent weeks,
The wellbeing of our employees, customers, subcontract workforce and the general public remains our priority. In order to help meet the expectations of those customers who were expecting to move into their new home over recent weeks, we are concentrating our efforts on those properties that are in the latter stages of construction. We will only be undertaking tasks that can be performed by our employees and subcontractors working in a safe and responsible manner, whilst adhering to strict social distancing measures.
We remain committed to providing the highest levels of customer care possible during the current situation and all customer care calls and emails will continue to be responded to as normal during this period. All but essential maintenance work in customers' homes, however, remains suspended. Our sales centres and show homes will remain closed, although we will continue to offer a telephone sales service across all our developments.
Supporting our colleagues
Following our initial decision to close sites, the Group initiated measures to furlough approximately 75% of employees, with this principally comprising directly employed site tradesmen, site managers and sales advisers. As a responsible and supportive employer,
The Group is eligible to claim a grant for furloughed employees using the Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ("CJRS"), however, the decision to submit a claim has been deferred until the Group is in a better position to assess the financial effect of its planned site reopening programme.
In addition to supporting colleagues with full basic pay, we have introduced several support initiatives, including suggestions to encourage good mental and physical health, throughout this period of uncertainty.
Trading update
In the period from
Whilst our sales centres have been closed since 23 March, we have continued to achieve a modest number of weekly reservations via telephone. We do, however, expect sales activity to remain severely restrained until we can re-open sales outlets. The cancellation rate, measured as a percentage of the reduced reservation rate over the same period, was 27%.
The initial recommencement of construction works will enable
Funding and liquidity
As previously reported, the Group has committed bank facilities of
In addition,
In this context, the Group had net bank debt of
Committed land obligations for the remainder of the financial year are expected to remain modest, at around
Looking ahead
Given the continued uncertainty, financial guidance remains suspended, however, measures taken by the Group to date will ensure that
1 All figures relating to completions, order book, reservations, cancellations and average selling price exclude the Group's share of its joint ventures.
2 Net bank debt is cash plus cash equivalents, less bank debt.
For further information, please contact:
0191 217 0717
0191 217 0717
Media enquiries
07813 392 669
Smithfield
07540 412 301
07715 375 443
Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements which are based on
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