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House builder Persimmon posted 64% surge in first-half profit after an easing of Covid-19 restrictions allowed it to complete more homes.
Pre-tax profit for the six months through June increased to £480.1 million, up from £292.4 million year-on-year.
New home completions rose 51% to 7,406, as the average selling price rose 4.9% to £236,199.
Persimmon declared first-half dividends of 235p per share, up from 110p year-on-year.
It reiterated that it would revert to the pre-Covid profile of capital return of two payments a year, with the payment of the regular annual distribution of 125p per share being made in early July 2022.
Looking ahead, the company said it had notched 'good' forward sales of £2.23 billion, including legal completions in the second half so far up around 9% on the more normal trading year of 2019.
It reaffirmed guidance for around 10% growth in sales completions this year.
'Persimmon's first-half performance has been robust,' chief executive Dean Finch said.
'In particular, I am pleased we have delivered strong growth in legal completions whilst also achieving higher levels of build quality and customer satisfaction.'
'We're managing the balance of inflationary pressures well and currently anticipate that our industry leading returns will remain resilient.'