Strong second half sends Persimmon's revenues up

The FTSE 100 housebuilder posted a trading update ahead of its full results out next month.

Full year revenue was up to £2.9bn, up from£2.6bn in 2014, with the group’s average selling price up by 4.5% to around £199,100.

That was driven by an 8% increase in new builds for the year, completing 14,572 homes in 2015 compared with 13,509 in 2014.

The company also saw a stronger second half, with 7,717 homes being finished between July and December.

Permisson also said forward sales at the end of the year are valued at around £1.1bn, up from £973m in 2014.

“This provides a strong platform for the Group to continue to execute its long term strategy, which includes growing the business to take advantage of sustainable market opportunities,” the company said.

It also expects to see substantial growth in pre-tax profits and excellent cash generation for the year thanks to the group's expansion in output, cost controls down and recovering money from a number of development sites purchased.

The results come as the company announced South Division Chief Executive Nigel Greenaway will retire from the board in April after 30 or being with the company.

David Jenkinson will be promoted to Group Managing Director with immediate effect, reporting directly to the Group Chief Executive.

On top of that, directors Richard Pennycook and Mark Preston will also resign from the board in April, with Nigel Mills from Citigroup Global Markets stepping in.

Persimmon’s full year results to 31 December 2015 will be released on February 23.