Profit before tax and exceptional items was £75.1m, compared to a loss of £96.1m in 2009.
Revenue was broadly stable at £2.6bn, up just 0.3% on 2009.
Group chief executive Pete Redfern said: "The significant improvement in our performance during 2010 reflects our disciplined focus on margin ahead of volume growth. We have continued to improve the quality of our landbank and add value to our existing sites through replans and operational efficiency. We now have the financing in place to enable us to continue that progress towards our aim of achieving double digit margins in 2012."
UK revenues were up 2.1% to £1.7bn, thanks to a slight increase in selling prices, as completions were down 2.2% at 9,962 units.
Including overseas operations in Spain, Gibraltar and North America, TaylorWimpey completed 14,272 homes in 2010 (2009: 15,166).
The company achieved its target a 10% reduction in private build costs per square foot between the first half of 2009 and the first half of 2010.
In its results statement for the year to 31 December 2010 the company said: “Having re-entered the land market during the second half of 2009, we remained active in 2010. We have seen an improvement in the availability of attractive opportunities during the second half of 2010 and have maintained our consistent, disciplined approach to land acquisition. During the year, we have approved a total of 8,713 new plots on 86 new sites with limited use of deferred payment terms (2009: 3,003 plots on 22 sites).
“Our UK short term land portfolio, representing owned or controlled land with planning, or a resolution to grant planning, stood at 63,556 plots at 31 December 2010 (2009: 66,089 plots). The average cost per plot in the land portfolio was £31k at 31 December 2010 on the basis of allocating all net realisable value provisions against land value (2009: £30k).”
There is still no news yet on the sale of the North American business, which has been up for sale for some time.
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