Clarion Funding
plc
The following amendments have been made to the
quarterly performance update announcement released on 28 January
2025 under RNS No 9714U
The original pre-tax surplus figures provided
were incorrect. The correct pre-tax surplus figure is £101.6
million and (2023/24: £46.4 million).
All other details remain unchanged.
The full amended text is shown below.
CLARION HOUSING
GROUP Q3 2024/25 PERFORMANCE UPDATE
Clarion Housing
Group's Quarterly Performance Update covering the period to 31
December 2024
Financial
performance
The financial year to date has seen Clarion
continuing to deliver a robust performance in a continuing
challenging environment. The unaudited management accounts for the
first nine months show a turnover of £807.2 million
(2023/24: £720.3 million), with an operating surplus of £210.1
million (2023/24: £160.5 million) and a pre-tax surplus
of £101.6 million (2023/24: £46.4 million). The
increase in surplus has been driven by focussed cost control and a
return to the inflation linked rent formula after the previous
year's below inflation increase, along with an increased surplus on
disposals.
We have invested £ 69.7 million in existing
homes in the financial year to date (2023/24: £ 96.7 million). The
year-on-year variance reflects changes to phasing as a result of
mobilising two new supply chain partners, more large project
related work which has a larger pre-construction element including
decarbonisation works, and some delays associated with obtaining
Building Safety Regulator approvals. We remain focussed on
increasing our investment in our homes over the remainder of the
year.
A total of £ 349.3 million was invested in
our new homes programme (2023/24: £ 380.1 million), a small
reduction compared to the same period the year prior due to some
later starts on site.
Housing Fixed Assets stood at £8.84
billion, up from £8.66 billion as of 31 March 2024. Drawn
debt at £4.59 billion is largely unmoved from £4.57
billion as of 31 March 2024. Liquidity remains strong
with £1.26 billion available (31 March 2024: £1.06
billion), with committed and fully secured funding facilities
of £5.78 billion (31 March 2024: £5.56
billion).
Since the last update, all three credit rating
agencies affirmed our ratings. Moody's affirmed the Group at A3
(Stable), S&P at A- (Stable) and Fitch at A+ (Negative). While
we were disappointed to receive a 'negative' outlook on our Fitch
rating, we were pleased the agency acknowledged the improvement to
our metrics observed to date in FY 2024/25. Clarion is one of only
three UK housing associations with an A+ rating from Fitch, and the
only one with a London presence and significant development
programme.
Operational
performance
Our independent surveys show overall customer
satisfaction remains consistently above the Group's 80% target and
was last measured at 83.1%. Repairs performance remains good, with
the most recent satisfaction score at 89.6% (internal target:
85%).
Rent arrears have continued to improve to
6.61%, down from 6.91% at the end of the last quarter, and our
specialist teams continue to work closely with residents who need
support to help them maximise their income and manage their
finances.
The Group has completed 1,246 new homes
since the start of the financial year - of which 83% were for
affordable tenures (2023/24: 811, of which 71% were affordable).
The future pipeline stands at 20,304 homes, slightly reduced in
comparison to the previous quarter due to completions outstripping
planning approvals in the quarter.
Outright market and shared ownership sales
generated a sales income of £127.8
million (2023/24: £91.6 million), with a margin of 7.6%
(2023/24: 10.7%), which is improved from the last quarter (Q2:
5.4%) as development costs have started to stabilise.
Sustainability
Latimer, the development arm of Clarion Housing
Group, has again been recognised as the UK's most sustainable
not-for-profit housebuilder, achieving the prestigious Gold Award
from the NextGeneration Benchmark for the second consecutive year.
Latimer saw its overall score increase this year from 71 to 78,
moving up to second place on the benchmark, having previously been
joint third. Latimer also achieved the highest score of any
housebuilder for Excellence in Socio-Economic Development,
reflecting its commitment to delivering homes and communities that
enhance socio-economic outcomes for residents.
In December, Clarion's sustainability team
showcased its 'WildE3' Rewilding Project, aimed at revitalising
urban green spaces in some of our estates in East London, to
stakeholders from the Greater London Authority and the London
Borough of Tower Hamlets. Held across several Clarion managed
estates, the event highlighted the progress of the project, which
is co-funded by the Mayor of London's Rewild London Fund. The
initiative focuses on rewilding Sites of Importance for Nature
Conservation (SINCs), spanning over 35 hectares of green spaces,
while fostering greater biodiversity and engaging local communities
in the process.
Supporting our
residents and communities
Since the beginning of the financial year, the
Group's charitable foundation, Clarion Futures, has supported 1,144
people into work and 4,083 people into training. In addition, 47
people have been helped to set up their own business. Significant
demand for support from our Clarion Futures money guidance service
continues and 11,437 money guidance and financial inclusion
interventions have been made by the service and its external
partners.
During the course of nine months to 31 December
2024, Clarion Futures has awarded a total
of £961,121 in grant funding to community-based
organisations. The significant increase on the previous
quarter (Q2: £297,423) is due to external funding secured including
the expansion of Clarion Futures' partnership with the Rothesay
Foundation to launch a new wellbeing spaces programme. Building on
Clarion's warm spaces programme, which ran over the last two
winters to support people through the cost-of-living crisis, this
new initiative will offer activities to support physical and mental
wellbeing alongside a chance to save on energy bills. It is
expected that 60 wellbeing spaces will open their doors across
England.
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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