Housebuilder Persimmon has hailed strong sales activity after “robust” trading during the summer, but has warned of the potential for disruption ahead as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
In a third-quarter trading update covering the period from 1 July to 9 November, the company said weekly sales rates per site were ahead by 38% year-on-year. It is now fully sold for the current year and has about £1.36bn of forward sales reserved beyond 2020, a rise of 43%.
Persimmon’s offices and sites will remain open during the second national lockdown, which runs until 2 December.
“We are well prepared for this second lockdown and continue to work with our subcontractors and supply chain to maintain the group’s operations,” the company said.
“We remain mindful, however, of the potential for further disruption from additional Government mandated measures to control the pandemic and the impact of ongoing uncertainty on the UK economy.”
The company has a cash balance of £960m, up from £371m, and an undrawn £300m credit line.
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