Persimmon PLC Trading Update (9205R)
July 02 2015 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMPSN
RNS Number : 9205R
Persimmon PLC
02 July 2015
TRADING UPDATE
THURSDAY 2 JULY 2015
Persimmon plc announces the following update ahead of its Half
Year Results to 30 June 2015, which will be released on Tuesday 18
August 2015.
The Group has traded well through the first half of 2015.
Customer sentiment remained resilient through the period running up
to the General Election on 7 May and confidence has improved
subsequently. New home legal completion volumes increased by 7% to
6,855 units (2014: 6,408) and total revenues increased by 12% to
GBP1.34 bn (2014: GBP1.20 bn). Visitor numbers to our sites across
the UK have been in line with the prior year and cancellation rates
have remained at low levels.
Customer demand has been supported by an increasingly
competitive mortgage market over the last six months, together with
continued growth in employment and some welcome improvement in
disposable incomes. The opportunity to buy a newly built home
remains compelling. The average selling price for the Group
increased by 4% to c. GBP195,000 (2014: GBP186,970).
For the first half of the year the Group's weekly rate of sale
into the private sale market was 11% ahead of the prior year. At 30
June forward sales volumes into the private sale market were 12%
ahead of last year at 4,606 new homes with an average selling price
of c. GBP213,000, 4% ahead of last year. Total forward sales value
at 30 June increased by 15% to GBP1.36 bn (2014: GBP1.18 bn).
We successfully opened 122 new sites in the first half of the
year despite experiencing a slow-down in the planning application
process in the period running up to the General Election. As a
result our outlet network at 30 June of 395 active sites was c. 5%
stronger than at the start of the year. We continue to actively
develop all sites where we have an implementable detailed planning
consent and plan to open a further c.125 new sites during the
second half of the year.
The land market continues to provide attractive opportunities
for investment to support the future growth of the business. We
have acquired c. 11,500 new plots of land across the UK during the
first half and our consented land bank at 30 June totalled c.
92,400 plots. We continue to take advantage of profitable
opportunities to strengthen the land platform for the future
development of the business.
The third payment of our Capital Return Plan of GBP291 million,
or 95p per share, was accelerated and paid on 2 April 2015 in line
with the long term strategic plan adopted by management. The
Group's total free net cash inflow before capital return in the
first half of the year was c. GBP191 million (2014: GBP122
million). Due to this strong liquidity cash holdings at 30 June
were c. GBP278 million ( 30 June 2014: GBP326 million).
We will announce our Half Year Results on Tuesday 18 August 2015
and will provide further details at that time.
Please Note
There will be a call for analysts at 0900 BST today. Please use
the dial-in details below:
Telephone number: +44 (0) 20 3003 2666
Conference code: Persimmon
An audiocast of the call will be available on
www.corporate.persimmonhomes.com from this afternoon.
For further information, please contact:
Persimmon plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Jeff Fairburn, Group Chief Simon Rigby
Executive
Mike Killoran, Group Finance Kevin Smith
Director
Tel: +44 (0)1904 642199 Tel: +44 (0)20 7638 9571
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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