Persimmon has seen its revenue and completions rise as it remains on track for its full-year targets.
In a trading update for the six months to 30 June, the housebuilder reported 4,605 new homes completions, up 4% from 4,445 on the same period in the previous year. Persimmon’s average sales price also increased, up 8% to £284,047 from £263,288 year-on-year.
The housebuilder saw a pre-tax profit rise of 11%, reaching £164.9million, while new housing revenue grew 12% from £1.17billion to £1.31billion and total group revenue rose by 14% to £1.50billion.
Persimmon’s net private sales rate excluding bulk sales increased by 5% to 0.62 from 0.59 in 2024, although including bulk sales, the figure fell slightly from 0.71 to 0.70, representing 191 sales per week, a 3% increase on H1 2024.
The trading update says that Persimmon remains on track for completions between 11,000 and 11,500 for the full year despite the impact of “geopolitical events and challenging market conditions”, and that the Group’s full-year guidance for operating profit remains unchanged.
As of 30 June, Persimmon was operating from 277 outlets, up 4% year-on-year, with the group saying it is progressing towards its target of at least 300 outlets.
The update says that the Group has a strong strategic land pipeline, spending £210million on land in H1.
Dean Finch, group chief executive of Persimmon, said: “I am pleased that we have continued to grow in the first half of the year despite challenging market conditions and with affordability still an important constraint. Our average sales price, sales, completions, planning approvals, active sites and forward order book are all up, many against industry trends, showing that our strategy including a focus on self-help has continued to deliver. An improvement in operating profit and return on capital demonstrate the benefit of our ongoing operational discipline.”
“We continue to invest in our key capabilities to further strengthen this growing platform. Disciplined investment in land is being complemented by planning success to secure additional site openings. Our vertical integration strengths have been further enhanced, with more efficiency benefits to come. Our three-brand strategy is helping to increase sales, with investment in marketing seeking to drive further growth.”
“We are on course to deliver our previously guided range of 11,000-11,500 completions this year. While mindful of macroeconomic volatility, we remain focused on driving further improvements to secure the medium-term growth ambitions we set out in March.”
“Given our strong progress with building safety remediation, we anticipate being able to review our capital allocation policy when the programme of works is substantially complete.”
Source: ShowHouse