TIDM15HG
RNS Number : 7557Z
Great Places Housing Group Limited
17 May 2023
QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE UPDATE
Covering performance for the year ending 31 March 2023
Our Performance Updates are aimed at ensuring our investors and
other stakeholders receive regular, timely information regarding
the performance of the Group. We will publish these reports on a
quarterly basis and will produce them within six weeks of the
relevant quarter end.
The information included is based on unaudited management
accounts and other internal performance measures.
These results are published in advance of the Statutory Accounts
for the year ended 31 March 2023 which will be issued following the
AGM in September. The information included is based on unaudited
management accounts and other internal performance measures and is
subject to concluding the routine annual accounting adjustments as
well as any adjustments that arise as a result of the external
audit process. The final year end figures which will be used in the
Financial Statements will include adjustments for tax, pensions and
other fair value adjustments.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: QUARTER FOUR RESULTS
The management accounts of Great Places Housing Group (the
Group) show a full year surplus before tax of GBP22.2m (last year
GBP21.1m). This was almost exactly as forecast.
Turnover in the year (all income including 1st tranche and
outright property sales) was GBP161.0m (last year GBP166.0m).
Operating surplus was GBP46.9m (last year GBP46.8m). The outcomes
for turnover, interest and property sales were all better than
forecast, but operating costs and depreciation/amortisation were
worse than projected.
Operating costs were GBP3.3m higher than budget. This was mainly
due to repairs and maintenance costs, with a range of factors
contributing to this including the inflationary impact on
materials, sub-contractors and fuel costs, additional resourcing
for damp and mould inspections and remedial works, as well as
higher disrepair volumes and costs. Inflation impacted most lines,
including the impact of energy costs rising by over 400%,
increasing our irrecoverable service charges and office energy
costs.
Net interest costs were GBP1.2m better than budget due to better
interest income on cash deposits with higher interest rates; a
smaller increase in interest payable, with 94% of debt being fixed;
lower debt drawn in the year; and lower capitalised interest than
forecast.
Drawn debt (excluding bond premium, other non cash balances and
loan fees, and including finance leases) as at March 2023 was
GBP643.7m (March 2022: GBP652.2m) with the movement due to
scheduled loan repayments.
Mark to Market exposure was GBP7.9m (March 2022: GBP28.1m) with
Nil cash collateral posted to meet counterparties' security
requirements (March 2022: GBP8.0m). This shows the impact of the
significant upward movement in long term interest rates, reducing
exposure on interest rate derivatives.
Cash balances (excluding cash held on behalf of leaseholders)
were GBP92.9m (March 2022: GBP119.5m) with undrawn bank facilities
immediately available of GBP143.8m.
Our internal financial "Golden Rules" around interest cover,
gearing and operating margin were all met at the end of the
period.
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Our performance management for 2022/23 centred around eleven
Critical Success Factors ("CSFs") which are designed to focus us on
the delivery of the Corporate Plan, and particularly our vision of
"Great Homes, Great Communities, Great People".
Four targets were achieved at the end of what was an incredibly
challenging year: Building Safety; Households into Work, Training
and Volunteering; Sickness absence; and Colleague engagement. For
building safety, a new CSF for 2022/23, we have now completed
surveys for all ten blocks that we scheduled for this year, with
subsequent actions undertaken as required. We significantly over
achieved against the Households into Work, Training and
Volunteering target, and roughly a third of people involved were
Great Places tenants as the initiatives were community focused.
Colleague sickness results were better than target, with an
average 3.2% days lost due to sickness and 56% of colleagues had
zero sickness leave. The most significant reasons for colleague
sickness was mental health; anxiety and depression; and covid,
which has radically reduced compared with the previous year. 80% of
colleagues are fully engaged, per the pulse surveys conducted
through the year.
Amongst the seven CSFs that missed target for the year were:
-- 649 new homes across 29 local authority areas across the
North West and Yorkshire were completed in 2022/23, the highest
number of new homes built by Great Places for several years. Whilst
this fell slightly short of the CSF target, this related to 95
homes which were predominantly lost across two sites as a result of
delays linked to site remediation and the identification of
uncharted services / watercourses on site which have now been
overcome.
-- The arrears target for the year was to achieve 4.0%. However
the Board acknowledged the challenging context we faced when
setting this target given the pressure of the 'cost of living
crisis' on our customers. Arrears at March 2023 were 4.7%,
improving from 5% at the end of Q3.
-- Average re-let time was 28.6 days (target 22.0 days). We have
recruited additional capacity for void repairs and the competing
demands arising from damp and mould inspections and repair work.
Demand for our properties remains strong.
-- The CSF score for satisfaction of 69% fell slightly short of
a target of 71%. This is based on the pilot results for the new
Tenant Satisfaction Measures, with the information gathered during
November to February .
-- At the end of March the % of digitally active customers was
34.7%. A digital campaign to promote options with customers is
planned, alongside the launch in 2023/24 of the repairs self-serve
and Plumlife functionality within the customer portal on our
website.
-- Data completeness 61% at March 2023 remained fairly static
during the year with marginal increases in many areas and a focus
on quality.
CORPORATE NEWS
These stories illustrate some of our recent activities,
particularly in terms of Environmental, Social and Governance.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Great Places secures GBP1.4 million to improve home energy
efficiency
Great Places has successfully secured government funding to
continue work to improve the energy efficiency of its homes. The
GBP1.4 million is part of GBP778 million that has been offered to
107 projects for Wave 2.1 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation
Fund. Match funded by Great Places, it will be used to support the
installation of energy performance measures such as exterior wall
insulation, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, and solar
panels in a total of 396 homes in Manchester and Sheffield.
Our latest ESG Report is live
We take our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
commitments very seriously and were an early adopter of an
industry-led sustainability reporting standard designed to unlock
institutional investment to help tackle the UK's deepening housing
crisis. Our latest report is live and highlights the work we are
doing as an organisation in relation to the Standards' 48 criteria,
covering a range of ESG considerations such as affordability, fire
safety and net-zero carbon emissions.
Sustainable Assets Team update
We published an update from our sustainable assets team, you can
read it here. We invested GBP20.8m in homes in the year to March
2023 and share some of the highlights:
-- Clifford Court, Stockport, 87 apartments across ten blocks
-- Windmill House scheme in Blackpool
-- Two blocks of NHS Key Worker accommodation at the Royal Oldham Hospital
SOCIAL
Great Places announced as Preferred Housing Provider for UK's
first older person's LGBTQ+ homes in Manchester
Great Places has been announced as the preferred provider to
design, build and manage the UK's first purpose-built LGBTQ+
majority older person's housing scheme in Whalley Range, South
Manchester. The project will deliver more than 100 apartments for
people aged 55 or over, with a mix of affordable homes that are as
accessible as possible to Manchester people. Great Places was
selected through a competitive process and has extensive experience
of designing, developing and managing a wide variety of affordable
general needs, supported and specialist housing.
Greater Together Foundation update
The Great Places Greater Together Foundation has been delivering
three projects:
-- House2Home: helping new customers to sustain their tenancies with household essentials.
-- The Resilience Fund: Community groups can bid to fund
projects targeted at helping our customers achieve financial
security.
-- Household Assistance Fund: helping our customers with
emergency financial support for costs such as fuel, food, white
goods and school uniforms.
Some other recent highlights include:
-- Facilitated over 60 coronation-themed events across our
communities and neighbourhoods to mark King Charles III's
Coronation Weekend. You can read more about it on our website
here.
-- Supported a community café in Morecambe, contributing GBP16,000 to set up services.
-- GBP11,000 to a Blackburn project helping vulnerable women.
The food also provides women a safe space to exercise and also
access other services around health, wellbeing and more specialised
trauma-informed services.
-- We helped a local knife crime charity secure GBP7,700 to
support its work in tackling knife crime in Greater Manchester.
Oldham History Project celebrates 10th anniversary
Great Places is teaming up with award-winning charity Manchester
Histories to run a local history project to commemorate the tenth
anniversary of Gateways to Oldham PFI housing and regeneration
venture. The six-month project will involve interviewing people who
live across Oldham before the regeneration work started, to
document their memories in a book, to be launched at a celebration
event and exhibition to be held at Gallery Oldham in September.
Historic Ancoats Dispensary Community Artwork launched
A community art project, facilitated by Manchester-based
award-winning photographer and writer Len Grant has been launched
at the Ancoats Primary Care Centre. The artwork was created through
a series of workshops with local residents and children from St
Anne's Primary School in Ancoats, as part of Len's commission to
produce a book documenting the history and GBP10 million renovation
of the iconic Ancoats Dispensary by Great Places, which will create
39 affordable new homes.
GOVERNANCE
Work starts on flagship Salford scheme
Great Places Affordable Development Team has started work on a
flagship development of 160 new affordable homes on Worrall Street
in Salford. The site is located close to the Manchester Ship Canal
and forms part of the Ordsall Waterfront regeneration corridor
which stretches from Salford Quays to Regent Road. The warehouse
buildings on the site are set to make way for the new scheme, a mix
of two and three-bed townhouses and one to three-bedroom apartments
available for Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy.
Sheffield's Deputy Council Leader and Chief Executive visit our
London Road development
Cllr Julie Grocutt, Deputy Leader of Sheffield Council and Chief
Executive Kate Josephs joined Great Places on a visit to view
progress on the site of the new GBP8.2m development of 51 new
affordable homes at London Road close to Sheffield city centre.
They were taken on a tour of the site that will transform a former
used car sales forecourt into a five-storey apartment block of one
and two bed apartments, which will be available for social rent.
The scheme will also feature environmental features that will
reduce the cost-in-use for customers and make it a very attractive
place to live.
Northern Housing Awards 2023 Developer of the Year
Developer of the Year is an amazing reward for the Great Places
team who have achieved incredible things over the past few years
and now achieving more than ever. We thank our network of agents,
contractors, consultants, partners, and enablers who support us,
and to our Board who enable our ambitious growth programme.
Hive scoops Best Newcomer at the RESI Awards
Hive Homes has won the Newcomer of the Year category at this
year's prestigious RESI Awards. Hive Homes is a joint venture is
with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and ten of
Manchester's leading Housing Associations, including Great
Places.
FEEDBACK
We welcome feedback on our performance update. Please contact
Phil Elvy, Executive Director of Finance, at
communications@greatplaces.org.uk
The information included within this report is for information
purposes only. The Financial results quoted are unaudited. The
report may contain forward looking statements and actual outcomes
may differ materially. No statement in the report is intended to be
a profit estimate or forecast. We do not undertake to revise such
statements if our expectations change in response to events. This
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END
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