Persimmon sees signs of trading improvement

The York-based group reported a seven per cent rise in sales since the beginning of the year and said the sales rate per site was up by a fifth due to the company operating from 370 locations, 12 per cent fewer than a year earlier.

It added that cancellation rates looked to have stabilised at around 16 per cent, which is below the long-term average of 20 per cent.

Persimmon said visitor numbers have been "steadily increasing" while there has also been a rise in website traffic following a recent marketing campaign.

The work on the 90 additional sites will commence in the first half of this year, subject to the continuation in market conditions.

Persimmon comments emerged as it reported pre-tax profits of 77.8m for last year, compared with a 780m loss in 2008 when results were affected by write-downs due to lower property valuations.

The company wrote back 74.8m in today's figures, meaning that profits without exceptional items were 3m.