Housebuilder Persimmon has hailed a resilient housing market as the reason behind its positive half -year results.
The company has reported 30% growth in half-year profits on revenue up 12% to 30 June 2017. It made £457.4m in profit before tax, up from £352.3m in the first half of 2016.
Revenue was up to £1.66bn from £1.49bn in 2016. Gross margin improved to 30.5% while operating margin was up 27.6%.
Home completions were up 8% with 7,794 homes finished compared to 7,238 last year.
Persimmon said that although inflation was rising, this was being “mitigated by healthy employment levels”.
Its statement said that customers were not having problems raising funds to buy homes.
Rather, potential home buyers were “finding good levels of support from mortgage lenders who have approved about 195,000 loans during the second quarter of 2017, a very similar level compared with the same period last year, despite the heightened uncertainties associated with the result of the recent UK General Election.”
Group chief executive Jeff Fairburn said: “The market remains confident. Customer interest in our developments remains strong with encouraging levels of interest through both our websites and our sales outlets as we trade through the quieter summer weeks. Our private reservation rate over recent weeks is 2% ahead year-on-year.
“Whilst we remain vigilant to changes in market conditions we also recognise we are in a strong position to take advantage of opportunities that arise. We are looking forward to a good autumn sales season.”
He added: “With a high-quality land bank, very strong balance sheet and excellent forward sales, the group has built a platform for its future success.”
