Persimmon revenue tops pre-pandemic levels

Persimmon has seen revenue rocket by 55% in the first half of 2021, topping pre-pandemic performance. The housebuilder recorded £1.84bn in the six months to the end of June, compared with £1.19bn a year earlier and £1.75bn two years ago. Persimmon’s completions climbed to 7,406, up from 4,900 during the same period last year. Of these, 6104 sales were to owner-occupiers. Its average selling price increased by 4.9% to £236,200. The group also reported forward sales of £1.82bn. It had around 285 active sales outlets on average during the first half, with 85 to open in the second half. At the end of the period, Persimmon had work in progress on 4,800 homes. This compared with 6,150 homes at the end of June in 2019. Persimmon said build rates had returned to pre-Covid levels at the end of June. During the period it spent £200m on land, buying more than 10,000 new plots across 48 locations. At 30 June it held £1.32bn on its balance sheet, with deferred land commitments of £100m to the end of the year. Group chief executive Dean Finch said: “We remain focused on progressing our pipeline of new sales outlets through the planning system and into production, and on our ongoing build programmes, to provide improved stock availability and choice for our customers.”   To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews