Voluntary contribution to affordable housing sees pre-tax profit remain steady in half-years
New home completions and group revenue rose in the half of the year at Persimmon.
Results for the six years to 30 June, revealed group revenue of £1.5bn, up 14% from £1.32bn in the same period the year prior.
New home completions rose 4% from 4,445 to 4,605, while pre-tax profit was roughly steady, edging up from £146.3m to £146.7m.
The underlying pre-tax profit figure rose 11% to £164.9m, with the statutory number impacted by an exceptional charge of £16.2m largely consisting of a financial contribution to the government’s Affordable Housing Programme.
This was the result of an agreement made by seven housebuilders, including Persimmon, with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after an investigation into potential breaches of competition law.
The CMA closed the investigation without making findings after the voluntary commitment of £100m from the housebuilders, of which Persimmon’s contribution was £15.2m
Dean Finch, group chief executive, said he was “pleased” the business had grown in the half year despite “challenging market conditions and with affordability still an important constraint”.
“Our average sales price, sales, completions, planning approvals, active sites and forward order book are all up, many against industry trends, showing that our strategy including a focus on self-help has continued to deliver,” he said.
“While mindful of macroeconomic volatility we remain focused on driving further improvements to secure the medium-term growth ambitions we set out in March.
“Given our strong progress with building safety remediation, we anticipate being able to review our capital allocation policy when the programme of works is substantially complete.”
The housebuilding giant said it was on track for completions of 11,000-11,500 homes for the full year, with an operating margin of between 14.2% and 14.5%.
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