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Guinness surplus soars following major stock swap
The Guinness Partnership has almost doubled its surplus to £69.9m following the completion of a major stock swap, latest financial results show.
The housing association’s surplus rose by 82%, from £38.2m after tax to £69.9m, in the financial year to March 2020.
The 64,000-home landlord completed the housing sector’s largest stock-swap deal in March with Paradigm Housing.
Around 2,500 homes were exchanged between the providers, with Paradigm taking ownership of 1,386 homes from Guinness, mainly in Wycombe, Welwyn, Hatfield and Dacorum, and Guinness taking ownership of 1,157 homes in Hillingdon and Hounslow.
In its financial statement, Guinness said: “This year-on-year increase in surplus reflects the £94m accounting surplus generated through the stock swap with Paradigm Housing Group [...]
“This accounting surplus has been partially offset by a one-off £35.4m charge on the early redemption of our high coupon 2025 bond.”
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Turnover at the housing association rose from £359.4m to £368.2m between 2019/20 and 2020/21, while operating surplus jumped by 70% from £98.2m to £167.4m.
Operating margin from social housing lettings fell from 29.8% to 24.8%. Homes under construction rose from 1,070 to 2,593, with new homes completed rising from 199 to 506.
According to Guinness, 3.6% of its tenants were in arrears at the end of 2020/21, with 17,365 claiming Universal Credit.
The report said: “These customers had average arrears of 7% (£711), which compares favourably with a figure of 22% in 2017, 8.36% in 2020 and the national average across housing associations of 12%.”
Customer satisfaction with Guinness’s care services stood at 93%; on repairs it stood at 81%. Overall tenant satisfaction stood at 74%, up 1% year-on-year.
Total loan facilities stood at £2.275bn, up from £1,752bn in 2020. Loans and borrowings rose slightly from £1.244bn to £1.334bn.
The HA said that, during the year, new credit facilities valued at £250m had been put in place, with undrawn loan facilities at £941m, up from £508.2m in 2020.
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