Replacement: Quarterly performance update

Clarion Funding plc

01 November 2024

 

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 / [e-mail] 

Lucy Pond, Head of Public Affairs, Clarion Housing Group - 0207 378 5555 / [e-mail] 

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.

www.clarionhg.com 

 

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