Persimmon first-half profits soar 29% to £352 million

Housebuilder Persimmon has reported a surge in profits and said demand has held up following Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

The company said pretax profits rose 29 per cent to £352.3 million (€410 million) for the first half of the year, while revenue increased 12 per cent to £1.49 billion.

Robust interest

Persimmon's chief executive, Jeff Fairburn, said that despite increased uncertainty customer interest since the vote had been "robust".

He 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 per cent ahead year on year.

“Our private sale reservation rate since 1 July is currently 17 per cent 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 and its listed rivals saw shares surge after the Bank of England slashed interest rates to 0.25 per cent from 0.5 per cent and unveiled a package of measures worth up to £170 billion.

With more rate cuts likely before the end of the year, housebuilders are seen as being among the biggest beneficiaries of the bank’s economic recovery plan. However, Persimmon added that it would “remain cautious” with respect to new land investment in the face of uncertainty created by the vote.

"After a modest increase in the week following the referendum result, cancellations have returned to normal levels and are currently running slightly lower than the same period last year. – (PA)