Persimmon stumbles on FTSE100 as shares drop
Housebuilder Persimmon was one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 yesterday after issuing what city analysts called a “thin” trading update.
Persimmon shares fell 3.6% after it said the sale of new homes has plateaued. The housebuilder, which has its headquarters in York, is the region’s most valuable listed company, with a value of £8.5bn.
Its shares have seen a rising trend over the last year, continuing an upward trajectory to reach 2772p. Trading closed at 2690p yesterday.
In a third quarter trading statement yesterday, which was criticised as being “light” on detail, the housebuilder said it is now fully sold up for the current year and has around £909m of forward sales reserved beyond 2017, an increase of 10% on the same point last year at £829m.
It added that although its total number of sales outlets were 10% lower over the autumn period, sales enquiries were about the same level as last year – as were total sales per site.
The group acquired a total of 5,526 new plots and spent £147m, including payment of deferred land creditors, during the period.
Persimmon said: “The group opened 95 new sales outlets in the first half of the year and has launched a further 61 through the second half to date. Management has made good progress with construction on new sites and we anticipate opening c. 45 additional sales outlets during the remainder of the year.”
Persimmon’s CEO Jeff Fairburn’s shares in the company are valued at £133m and, according to reports, a bonus deal will see 150 managers receive a total of 30.2m shares worth £837m.
