TWOD

Wimpey(George) PLC
20 December 2006


20 December 2006


George Wimpey Plc
Pre-close Trading Statement


George Wimpey is issuing the following pre-close trading statement ahead of
preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2006, to be announced on
Wednesday 21 February 2007.

Group Results

As a result of the strong performance in our UK business we expect total group
completions to reach a record level (2005: 17,021), with over 75% of completions
now coming from the UK (2005: 71%). The UK landbank has been significantly
strengthened and is expected to account for around 75% of the total Group year
end landbank (2005: 68%).

Trading conditions in the US have continued to be poor. Accordingly as we
indicated at the time of our trading update in October we are reviewing our land
and option carrying values in the US. This process will be finalised at the year
end, based on market conditions at that time, and we expect it to result in a
one-off after tax impact in 2006 of around 2.5% of Group net assets.

Group profit before tax for 2006 is expected to be in line with our
expectations, prior to US option exit costs and land value provisions.

Year end gearing is expected to be below the 2005 level of 34%. The tax rate for
2006 is expected to be 30%.

UK Housing

The UK housing market has remained stable throughout the year, with price
increases being achieved in most markets.

The strong first half volume performance has enabled us to move margins forward
in the second half as planned. Operating margins for the second half are
therefore expected to be ahead of those of both the first half of 2006 and the
second half of last year.

We have continued to strengthen our order book position and at week 50 the
forward order book for 2007 stood at £763 million, a 10% increase by volume and
11% by value compared with the same time last year. Gross margins in the order
book show further progress on those in the order book at the end of the first
half.

By increasing our focus on acquiring medium term value added sites, and through
successes in our strategic landbank, we have been able both to grow the size of
the landbank and keep plot acquisition costs down. We expect the short term
landbank to be at an all time high at the year end, having maintained consistent
growth throughout the year. During 2006, we have achieved either outline
planning or a resolution to grant on over 4,750 plots from our strategic
landbank. This excellent performance, generating more plots than the last three
years combined, will help to improve future margins.

Through 2006, we have focused on land acquisition, sales performance and cost
control. We are delighted that this has enabled the UK business to make
excellent progress against our targets, and provide a very sound base for
continuing performance improvement in 2007.

US Housing

The US housing market has weakened during 2006 as affordability has become
constrained and the supply of homes on the market has reached record levels.
Current trading conditions remain very poor, however we are encouraged by the
fact that housing stock levels have now stabilised.

Visitor levels and sales rates throughout the year have been materially below
those in 2005, and total completions for the year are expected to be around 12%
below last year (2005: 4,921). Since our October trading update, we have
continued to experience very high cancellation rates, averaging 50% for the
second half of the year. Incentives have continued to grow in most markets since
October, although at a slowing rate.

The forward order book at week 50 stood at $198 million, a 64% decrease in
volume and 68% in value on the record position last year. Prices and margins in
the order book are significantly below the same period last year and below those
in the order book at the end of the first half.

During the second half of 2006, we have drawn back from land purchase in all
markets except Texas. Land prices have started to fall and we believe that we
will be able to secure land at lower cost in the future as pricing continues to
weaken. In light of these market conditions, we have actively reviewed all
option and pipeline land and renegotiated or exited those contracts not expected
to deliver economic returns. As a result, by the end of December we will have
reduced our land bank plots by more than 20% to less than 19,000 lots.

Outlook

In the UK current market conditions are similar to those experienced throughout
2006 and we believe the outlook for 2007 is stable. Following the actions taken
over recent months to improve our landbank and our cost base, and taking into
account our strong order book position, we remain confident of delivering our
primary objective of continued margin growth going forward.

In the US it remains difficult to predict the market outcome for 2007, however
we expect both volumes and margins to be materially below 2006. Whilst we
believe there are some signs that the deterioration in market conditions has
slowed, we expect little significant change in trading in the short term. We
have taken action to reduce our land holding exposure, ensure costs within the
business are well controlled and have increased outlets to create a strong sales
presence in all our markets.

Changes to our UK land strategy, coupled with a deliberately cautious approach
in the US have enabled us to rebalance our operations to mitigate the effect of
the US market downturn. This plan will improve the long term value of the
Morrison business, allowing us to return to growth when we see the US market
start to improve.