Persimmon trading well ahead of testing AGM

The FTSE 100 housebuilder said enquiries were up 13% from a year earlier and that forward sales revenue had risen 8% to £2.76bn.

“This has resulted in robust trading since the start of the year with visitor levels to site, sales conversion rates and cancellation rates all running in line with our expectations,” Persimmon said.

The number of homes sold rose to 9,048 from 8,928 at an average price of £236,500 – a £7,000 increase from a year earlier.

Britain's second-biggest housebuilder updated investors ahead of its annual general meeting, which takes place at 12:00 BST in York. The board could face tough questions and a shareholder revolt over pay and other governance issues.

Bonuses paid to chief executive Jeff Fairburn and his team have become a lightning rod for unrest over executive pay. In February Persimmon cut Fairburn’s payout from the company’s long-term incentive plan to £75m from £100m after politicians and investors criticised the payments.

Fairburn had already announced he would give some of his bonus to charity but leading shareholder groups have called for investors to vote against Persimmon’s pay report.

Persimmon has acknowledged it should have capped the payouts under a plan devised when housebuilders were in the doldrums. The company’s chairman, Nicholas Wrigley, quit in December over the dispute.

Persimmon said on 2 July shareholders would have received £2.22bn under its capital return plan – £1.36bn more than envisaged in 2012. Payments over the next three years will take the total value of the plan to about £4.1bn, it added.

A further bone of contention with shareholders could be lack of women in Persimmon’s top ranks. The Investment Association has listed the company as one of the FTSE 100 companies with too few senior managers.