Persimmon’s profit before tax surged 29% to £352.3 million in the first half of 2016, up from 272.8 million for the same period in 2015. Revenue increased 12% to £1.49 billion. The average selling price rose 6% to £205,762, while legal completions also rose 6%.
Jeff Fairburn, Group Chief Executive, said, “While the result of the EU Referendum has created increased economic uncertainty, customer interest since then has been robust with visitor numbers to our sites around 20% ahead year on year.
“Our private sale reservation rate since 1 July is currently 17% ahead of the same period last year. The Group is now trading through the traditionally slower summer weeks but customer demand remains encouraging and we anticipate a good autumn sales season.”
Persimmon’s positive statement led to a rally in housebuilders’ share prices. Persimmon, Bellway, Barratt and Countrywide were all up by more than 4% in midday trading, while Berkley rose around 3%.
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