RHP Annual Report and Financial Statements 2023/24

We've now published our 2023/24 annual report and financial statements, which you can download below:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2065C_1-2024-8-29.pdf

Key highlights

·      Operating surplus of £16.3m (2023: £18.2m)

·      £17.0m invested in capital works to existing properties (2023: £12.4m)

·      A (stable) credit rating from Standard and Poor's

·      G1/V1 regulatory governance and viability rating affirmed

In a very challenging period for social housing, we are pleased to report a continued strong set of results. EBITDA-MRI interest cover for the year was 137% compared to a 22/23 upper quartile performance for London providers of 115%.

Our liquidity remains strong and interest rate exposure minimal following successful refinancing in 22/23.

We carefully manage the difficult balance between investment in asset performance and financial strength. Spend on capital works on our homes continues to increase as we invest in improvements in energy efficiency of the portfolio and ongoing programmes of component replacements.

Our financial strength enables us to continue to invest in carpets and full redecoration for all void properties, works to prevent damp and mould, and technology to advance our predictive maintenance programme.

We recognised that this was likely to result in a change in our S&P credit rating and know that this accurately reflects our desire to shift this balance in favour of investment in our stock.

We have also chosen to invest more in 23/24 in our service, as it has taken longer than we had hoped to embed our new repairs service 'RHP Home', which launched in June 2023 in partnership with Kier Places. This investment includes adding additional resources into the repairs service and management of damp and mould.

These investments, coupled with the challenges faced across the sector in increasing costs of insurance and additional regulation, have resulted in a reduction in our operating surplus.

Tackling the housing crisis

Our modest and prudent development programme continues to deliver in accordance with our strategy.

Over the past year, we invested £26.6 million in the development of new homes, successfully completing 125 homes, which included 13 accessible properties.

We are also excited to have begun construction at our largest regeneration project, Ham Close, which will provide 452 new affordable and private sale homes.

Our pipeline remains strong and offers a variety of schemes in our areas of operation.

Listening to our customers

We recognise our repairs service has not yet improved to the levels we aspire to deliver, and that directly correlates to our overall customer satisfaction and complaints.

Along with our customers' safety, improving our repairs service is our highest priority. Our focus in this area has led to improvements in 2024/25 which we continue to build on.

We have also invested in a new Community Engagement Team, who are committed to listening to feedback, turning voices into action, and working in partnership with customers to achieve outcomes that matter.

An inspiring and inclusive employee experience

We continue to employ people who connect with our social purpose and values, and are passionate about delivering excellent service. Employee satisfaction levels remain strong at 80% and we have been recognised externally by gaining Top Employers Certification and Gold accreditation in the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index, both for the second time.

Looking forwards

In early 2024/ 25 we launched our new three-year vision and strategy.

Our vision is to be trusted as a socially responsible housing provider which is high-performing, community-connected, and values-based.

We are confident that the strategy we have in place to fulfil this vision, coupled with our financial strength, will enable us to improve our service and deliver for our customers in the areas that matter most. As well as investing in existing homes, we will also continue to provide more much-needed affordable, accessible, and sustainable homes for local people.

Finally, our growth strategy will allow us to expand our social impact, as well as protecting our business for the future.

These consolidated financial statements include RHP Ltd, Co-op Homes (South) Ltd, RHP Finance PLC, RHP Develop Ltd and RHP Home (Repairs) Ltd.