Sales stable at Persimmon
SALES at housebuilder Persimmon have remained stable despite concerns about the housing market although the firm has not seen its usual rise in reservations in the autumn.
The company said today that mortgage availability remains a “major obstacle” for its potential customers, especially for first time buyers without large deposits.
Persimmon forecast that it will complete transactions on around 9,400 homes by the end of the year, a rise of 5%, with borrowings cut below the £80m mark.
The company said it is “fully sold up” for this year with £460m of sales reserved beyond 2010. It has opened 60 new sites in the second half with another 15 due to come on stream by the end of November.
Persimmon has also been working on its land assets, buying around 4,000 new plots on 41 sites in the second half.
In a stock market update, the company said: “We expect our performance for 2010 to demonstrate the progress we have made in pursuing our strategy of operating margin improvement and growth in operating cash generation.
“With the strength of our balance sheet and high quality land holdings we will continue to successfully develop our business in these challenging markets.”
