Persimmon posts large rise in profits

YORK-based house-builder Persimmon reported a 44 per cent rise in full-year profit after it sold 13,509 homes in 2014, and said the outlook for the property market was positive.

By The Newsroom

Published 24th Feb 2015, 08:17 BST

The company posted underlying pretax profit of £475m on revenue up 23 per cent to £2.6bn.

It said 2015 had started well, with current total forward sales running five per cent ahead of last year.

Nicholas Wrigley, the group chairman, said: “Persimmon delivered a strong and well balanced performance in 2014. We have undertaken disciplined investment to support sustainable growth in volume, increasing the number of completions by 17 per cent in the year, bringing the increase in the number of new Persimmon homes completed over the last two years to 36 per cent. We have had an encouraging start to 2015 and experienced a solid opening period to the spring season..Despite some uncertainty arising from the General Election in May, the ongoing gradual improvement in the UK economy and increasing mortgage lender support provides a supportive backdrop for the new homes market.”

York