Leading housebuilder Persimmon (PSN) issued an upbeat full-year trading statement in January saying it had ‘performed well in challenging market conditions, delivering completions ahead of expectations alongside enhanced quality metrics of our already five-star homes’.

It described sales as being ‘relatively robust throughout the year’ while it kept a lid on costs but continued to invest in the business ready for when conditions improve.

Completions were down 33% from 14,868 to 9,922 units, a slightly bigger drop than rival Barratt Developments (BDEV) which reported a 28.5% reduction in completions from 8,626 to 6,171 units and a 33.5% drop in revenue to £1.85 billion.

The market is therefore expecting Persimmon to post a similar 33% drop in revenue to around the £2.6 billion mark when it reports its full-year earnings on 12 March.

The firm said it saw ‘a sustained pick-up in interest’ during 2023 and ‘a particularly strong delivery’ in the final quarter, so investors will be hoping for positive comments on the outlook.

We know Persimmon started the year with a decent order book, with private orders up 11% by volume and 4% by value to around £500 million thanks to its Boxing Day campaign, but it did caution conditions would stay uncertain especially with 2024 being an election year. 

‹ Previous2024-03-07Next ›