Orbit Group Limited's Interim Performance Update covering the six-month period to 30th September 2022
19 December 2022
Orbit Group Limited ('Orbit Group, 'Orbit' or the 'Company'), one of the UK's largest contributors of affordable housing, announces a robust half-year performance* in line with expectations.
Highlights
· Group turnover for the year to date of £206.7m (2021/22 H1: £189.3m)
· Operating profit for the year to date including sale of fixed assets of £71.6m (2021/22 H1: £59.8m)
· Surplus for the year to date of £46.2m (2021/22 H1: £33.4m)
· 647 new homes completed (2021/22 H1: 393), of which 461 were affordable
· Strong transactional customer satisfaction of 4.34 out of 5
· Continued G1 (Governance) and V2 (Viability) rating from the Regulator of Social Housing
Supporting our customers
Against a challenging backdrop of high inflation, rising interest rates, materials and labour shortages and increasing likelihood of a recession, our focus continues to be on providing good quality, affordable and safe homes.
We have introduced extra measures to support customers through the cost-of-living crisis, including additional investment in our Better Days programme, which provides customers with a range of support from direct financial help and grants to mental health and employment and skills support.
As part of this we have launched a new Welfare Benefits Advice Service to help customers manage their finances and partnered with National Energy Action to support with energy grants, tariffs, and fuel debt.
Investment in our homes and communities
We continue to invest in our homes and communities, investing £35.5million in our properties during this period (2021/22 H1: £35.3m).
There were 647 new homes completed in the first six months of the year including the conclusion of affordable rental apartments at our regeneration scheme, Park East, in Erith.
Work on our Social Housing Demonstrator Project at Stratford-upon-Avon is now complete, and work as part of the Social Housing Demonstrator Wave One programme is due to start in the new year.
We have also made significant improvements in how we respond to reports of damp, mould or condensation, with the last 18-months seeing the introduction of a new policy and systems, colleague training and new equipment to improve our data reporting and diagnostic capability.
Housing fixed assets total £2.96bn (2021/22 H1: £2.84bn). Net debt at the period end was £1.52bn (2021/22 H1: £1.42bn) with £0.5bn (2021/22 H1: £0.6bn) of available liquidity.
Sustainability progress
Progress on our net zero carbon targets and sustainability commitments continues at pace.
In October we published our second Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) report under the Sustainable Reporting Standard for Social Housing, and in June we launched our Biodiversity Approach, which aligns with the 30by30 global initiative.
In a first for the sector, we also qualified as a provider of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) environmental sustainability accreditation, and achieved ISO14001:2015 certification for our environmental management system by the British Standards Institute (BSI).
Comment from Jonathan Wallbank, Group Finance Director:
"We remain a financially robust association. Our trading performance continues to be in line with expectations, demonstrating our strong liquidity position, business resilience and capability to navigate the current challenging economic climate.
"We have increased support for our customers to help them mitigate the cost-of-living crisis and arrears continue to be at the lowest for many years. We are seeing cost increases both across property maintenance and new build projects and, whilst our new build programme has performed well and risk metrics are continuing to be met, as a precautionary measure we have taken the decision to reduce new build homes output from 6,500 to 6,000 homes during the period 2020 - 25. New build will continue with the focus on affordable tenures, ensuring we minimise risk whilst still supporting the Government's Affordable Homes Programme."
- Ends -
* Figures quoted in the update are based on unaudited management accounts which are subject to review and further adjustments, for example in the areas of pensions, investment property valuation and taxation.
For further information please contact:
investors@orbit.org.uk / Lisa Astle, Director of Communications and Brand, lisa.astle@orbit.org.uk 07775 633957
Disclaimer: The information contained herein (the "Interim Update") has been prepared by Orbit Group Limited (the "Parent") and its subsidiaries (the "Group"), including Orbit Housing Association Limited, Orbit Capital PLC (the "Issuer") and is for information purposes only and has not been subject to external audit.
The Interim Update should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities issued by the Parent, the Issuer 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 Interim 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 Interim 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 Interim Update. The information in the Interim Update is subject to verification, does not purport to be comprehensive, is provided as at the date of the Interim 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 Interim Update is or should be relied on as a promise or representation as to the future. No statement in the Interim 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 Interim Update (and whether any information has been omitted from the Interim Update). The Interim Update does not constitute legal, tax, accounting or investment advice.
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