Persimmon posts 65% fall in H1 profit
Persimmon has reported a 65% fall in H1 profit but said full-year profit will meet expectations.
The housebuilder made a pretax profit of £151m for the first six months of 2023, down from £439m for the same period in the previous year.
Revenue was also down by £600m, to £1.19bn, as new home completions dropped from 6,652 to 4,249.
Persimmon has reported a 65% fall in H1 profit but said full-year profit will meet expectations.
The housebuilder made a pretax profit of £151m for the first six months of 2023, down from £439m for the same period in the previous year.
Revenue was also down by £600m, to £1.19bn, as new home completions dropped from 6,652 to 4,249.
Margin on new homes was also down, from 31% to 21.5%, while operating margin has fallen from 27% to 14%.
The fall in completions reflected the drying up of the housebuilder’s forward order book following last autumn’s mini-Budget.
The group said its forward sales position, including five weeks post period end, was £1.6bn, 30% lower than the £2.2bn for H1 2022.
It said full-year completions were expected to be “at least 9,000; the top end of our previously indicated range”.
It added that operating profit would be “in line with expectations given stubborn build cost inflation in the period”.
A company-compiled median analysts’ consensus for full-year profit was £348m.
Group chief executive Dean Finch said: “We are on track to deliver profit expectations for the year and are building a platform for future growth.”
He added that Persimmon had delivered “robust” sales, “against a backdrop of higher mortgage rates, the removal of Help to Buy and significant market uncertainty”.
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