Persimmon sees profit and revenue fall amid business review

Persimmon has reported a drop in revenue profit for the first six months of 2019. The results come after the housebuilder launched an independent review of its business last week, after falling under scrutiny for poor practices. The firm posted pre-tax profit of £509.3m, down from £516.3m for the same period last year. Revenue fell 4.5% to £1.75bn as home sales dropped to 7,584 from 8,072. The average selling price rose slightly to £216,942 from £215,813, while the group’s housing operating margin fell from 31.8% to 31%. The group said customer satisfaction ratings had continued to improve following a circa £140m in work in progress and around a £15m hike in annual customer care spend. The housebuilder has also decided to delay the release of homes for sale to a later stage of construction in high demand locations, and will launch a new customer care portal in the second half of this year. Dave Jenkinson, chief executive of Persimmon, said: “The improvements to our customer service approach had two main impacts in the period. First, customer service spend increased by circa 40% year-on-year, and these additional initiatives are anticipated to increase our annual customer care costs by an estimated £15m. “Second, and as noted earlier in the year, our decision to invest an additional c. £140m in work in progress as we held back some sites for later sales release to give customers more accurate moving-in dates reduced the Group’s overall sales volumes. Allowing for these impacts, Persimmon’s trading in the first half of 2019 was strong. “I am confident that the progress we are making with our initiatives, our strong forward build, healthy forward sales and robust balance sheet place Persimmon in a strong position for the second half.” To send feedback, e-mail anna.ward@egi.co.uk or tweet @annaroxelana or @estatesgazette