Sales at Persimmon have risen by a third this year as the housebuilder continues to reap the benefits of a resurgent market.
Persimmon, which has a number of completed and prospective developments in Tayside and Fife as part of a 46-site portfolio in Scotland, said revenues in the six months to June 30 had risen 33% on a year earlier to £1.2 billion.
Sale completions jumped almost 28% to 6,408 homes during the period, while its average selling price lifted 4% to £186,000.
Persimmon shares have risen 10% so far this year and have been relatively unaffected by last week’s measures from the Bank of England aimed at preventing a house price surge.
Persimmon said mortgage lenders have continued to support the market but were “exercising discipline” in their lending.
The company trades from 380 sites and said its consented land bank at June 30 stood at 82,300 plots, providing an “excellent platform” for the future development of the business.
“With the gradual improvement in performance of the wider UK economy, confidence in our regional markets across the UK remains positive as we enter the traditionally slower summer weeks,” the company said in a trading update yesterday.
“We will continue to focus on the successful delivery of our operational objectives and execution of our longer-term strategy.”
The firm said it would provide further details of its strategy when it publishes its full half-year results on August 19.
Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said a combination of the country’s monetary policy and accommodative lending practices left Persimmon “in a sweet spot”.
He said: “Persimmon continues to make hay while the sun shines.”