Increase in consumer confidence boosts Persimmon
PERSIMMON announced today a 21% jump in revenue as it hailed 2013 as a year of “excellent progress” for the group.
The York-based housebuilder reported underlying pre-tax profits of £330m, up 49% in its final results for the year to December 31, while full year revenue came in at £2.1bn, up 21% from £1.7bn in 2012.
Persimmon attributed the strong result to its quick response to customer demand.
Nicholas Wrigley, group chairman, said: “Persimmon achieved a strong result for the year as we responded quickly to the increased customer demand that resulted from improved mortgage lending, the introduction of Help to Buy in April 2013 and the increase in consumer confidence as the UK returned to more meaningful economic growth.
“Our success in increasing build rates significantly in response, with second half volumes 30% ahead of those in the first six months, underpinned a robust overall performance.
“2013 was a year of excellent progress against our strategic plan.”
Looking to the year ahead, Mr Wrigley said: “The group entered 2014 with a very strong forward order book and the early weeks of the spring selling season have been encouraging, with our weekly private sales rate per site being 22% ahead of last year for the first eight weeks. We anticipate a further year of encouraging sales growth in 2014.”
