Demand boosts Persimmon
HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon said that it has acquired or agreed terms to acquire 3,000 new plots as its confidence in a recovering market grows.
The York-based firm reported that during the 12 months to December 31 it had legally completed the sale of 8,976 new homes generating a turnover of around £1.4bn.
Of these completions, 4,970 were achieved in the second half of 2009, an increase on the 4,006 completions achieved in the first half of 2009.
Forward sales into 2010 are 40% ahead of last year at £640m.
Despite challenging market conditions since April 2008, Persimmon has managed to significantly reduce its debt from £1.2bn to £270m as a result of “strict” cash control disciplines.
However, it said that it has continued to invest in work on new and existing developments. Of the new plots being acquired more than 80% are in the South.
Persimmon has also received confirmation from the Home & Communities Agency that its recent bid for funding under Kickstart 2 has been successful.
The firm has been allocated an additional £50m to support potential purchasers of Persimmon homes under the HomeBuy Direct process.
The money will enable first time buyers purchase around 3,000 homes on 40 of Persimmon’s development between now and 2012.
In November, it announced the reservation of the 1,000th Persimmon home under the scheme and it still has £45m to utilise from the first round of funding.
In a statement it said: “While we will remain cautious until mortgage availability and the general economy improves we have continued confidence in the long-term future of the housing market.”
Persimmon will announce its results for the year ended December 31 in March.
