Housebuilder to invest in brick factory planned for 2017
HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon has said that third quarter trading was “encouraging” despite a gloomy outlook post-Brexit vote and it is now set to invest in a major Doncaster brickworks.
The housebuilder said that a resilient market had helped trading and the reduction of interest rates had resulted in more attractive mortgage products hitting the market.
On the back of this growth and expected demand continuing, it said it would be making an investment in the group’s manufacturing capability with a new Doncaster brickworks site.
The group said that the facility would provide a substantial proportion of its brick requirement as it ramps up housebuilding to hit Government targets.
Persimmon said the manufacturing facility would be commissioned in the first quarter of 2017.
The group said it also planned to open a new regional operating business near Nottingham in January 2017, bringing the total number of new businesses opened in the last two years to five.
During the third quarter trading period, Persimmon said it had acquired 7,580 new plots of land, and spent £116m, including payment of deferred land creditors.
The Group opened 108 new housing developments in the first half of the year and has launched a further 102 new sites in the second half to date with around 45 new sites planned for the remaining weeks of 2016.
Despite this, Persimmon’s share price has remained 17% below its pre-EU referendum decision price and the housebuilder did acknowledge that uncertainty surrounding the potential impact of the EU Referendum result may continue for some time.
