Persimmon says it is in robust health and ready to play its part to support the UK’s recovery

The York-based firm said it is benefitting from an increased investment in work in progress, in the expectation of increased demand ahead of the end of the current Help to Buy scheme.

After re-opening its sites in England and Wales, the firm’s construction teams are now achieving normal levels of production, helped by improved availability of sub-contract labour, with all teams adhering to the group’s Covid-19 safe operating procedures.

However, Persimmon’s total revenues for the first six months of 2020 fell 32 per cent to £1.19bn, down from £1.75bn in the first half of 2019.

Housing revenues for the first six months of the year were £1.1bn, 33 per cent lower than the prior year. New housing legal completions fell 35 per cent to 4,900 at an average selling price of £225,050, up from £216,942 in 2019, reflecting resilient selling prices throughout the period.

Dave Jenkinson, Persimmon’s chief executive, said: “The safety of our colleagues, customers and suppliers has been paramount.

“When lockdown restrictions required the suspension of site-based activity, Persimmon demonstrated its responsiveness with colleagues working from home continuing to progress site preparation work and our sales teams continuing to take reservations online.

“This dynamic response was made possible by the retention of all of our staff on full pay, without recourse to Government assistance, and provision of necessary support to our suppliers and subcontractors, to ensure operational continuity and enable a safe and structured re-start to site operations.

“As a result, our build programmes had returned to normal levels by period end, and we have seen encouraging sales levels throughout the period, in particular, over the last six weeks when net reservations have been around 30 per cent ahead year on year.

When asked whether the 30 per cent increase indicates pent up demand, Mr Jenkinson said: “The truth is we don’t really know.

“We took 1,600 gross reservations in the nine weeks during the lockdown period, which suggests there is good demand out there. However, headwinds potentially in front of us is what happens when the Government furlough scheme finishes, although you wouldn’t expect that people reserving now were being furloughed.

“Demand is strong at the minute.”

Persimmon said the longer term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumer confidence and the UK economy is yet to be seen.

However, despite this uncertainty, it said it remains confident of the group’s future success.

When asked about his biggest worries over Covid-19, Mr Jenkinson said: “I think it’s unemployment. We have proved during the lockdown, with the Government support and guidance, that we could build safely.

“We will continue to abide by the two meter rule. We can still get the building that we want without putting any of our staff at any risk at all.”

The first Help to Buy programme ends in March 2021. After that, it continues to 2023 for first time buyers.

Mr Jenkinson said: “The great thing for Persimmon is that 50 per cent of all our completions are to first time buyers.”

He also praised colleagues for their hard work during the pandemic.

“I’m really proud of the staff. I wanted to get the feedback from the staff. The support and the feedback was overwhelmingly supportive,” he said.

“The staff have been incredibly supportive.”