Persimmon, the UK’s second-largest housebuilder, has reported a surge in trading over the past three months despite investor worries over the effects of the Brexit vote.
The FTSE 100 group’s private sales rate has been 19 per cent ahead of last year since August 23, it said, meaning it is now “fully sold up” for the current calendar year, writes Judith Evans.
The York-based group has about £757m of homes reserved beyond 2016, up 4 per cent from the same time last year, and plans to open a new brick factory near Doncaster in 2017.
The company said the market for new homes had gained from “resilient consumer confidence and strong lender support”, plus August’s interest rate cut. “Pricing remains firm across our regional markets,” the group said.
However, Persimmon said it was taking a “cautious” approach to new land investment given that “the uncertainty surrounding the potential impact of the EU Referendum result on the UK economy may continue for some time”. It acquired 7,580 new plots in the three months to November 1.
The group expects to improve in the second half of the year on the 23.8 per cent operating margin achieved in the six months to June, it said.
Shares in housebuilders, including Persimmon, dropped sharply following the UK’s vote to leave the EU; Persimmon was trading on Tuesday at prices still 17 per cent below their pre-referendum level.