Housebuilder’s profits build back towards £1bn
Housebuilder Persimmon believes it has firm foundations for a year of growth after its financial performance returned close to pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
Pre-tax profits were up 23% last year to £967m, although that was behind the consecutive £1bn-plus profits of 2018 and 2019.
Persimmon’s group chief executive Dean Finch said: “Persimmon’s performance was strong in 2021 as we delivered more homes, built better and strengthened our platform for future growth. Maintaining build rates at pre-Covid levels, we delivered almost 1,000 additional new homes, and improved customer service…whilst also improving our underlying operating margin.”
The York-based group completed 14,551 homes with an average selling price of £237,000 as group revenues reached £3.61bn.
The 2.8% increase in selling price reflected “a combination of the mix of homes sold in the year and the increased proportion of homes sold to our housing association partners”, the company said.
Dean Finch
Persimmon said it expects “increases in selling prices will mitigate build cost inflation” although it is watching out for economic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finch added: “The new year’s trading has started well, with private sales rates ahead by c.2% in the opening weeks and a robust forward sales position of £2.21bn.
“We expect to grow our outlet position in 2022 and are targeting volume growth of 4-7% on 2021 levels, whilst maintaining our industry-leading margins, although we are mindful of the growing risk of an economic impact as a result of the tragic conflict in Ukraine.”
