Persimmon has posted increased annual pre-tax profits of £153.9m (2009: £77.8m) and was “encouraged” by good demand at its developments so far in 2011.
The housebuilder’s sales rose 10.5% in 2010 to £1.57bn (2009: £1.42bn), legal completions were up 4.5% to 9,384 (2009: 8,796) and the average selling price was 5.7% ahead at £167,249 (2009: £158,272).
Persimmon chairman John White said activity in the autumn of 2010 was subdued, resulting in a lower forward order book at the start of 2011 compared to a year ago. However, forward sales at January 1 remained strong at £565m (2009: £638m).
“Since the beginning of the year sales have been encouraging and we currently have total sales of about £848m (2010: £898m) including legal completions already achieved during 2011,” said Mr White.
“Prices remain stable whilst we are achieving some margin improvement over the comparative period of 2010.”
He said new developments were benefiting from good demand and current levels of visitors and interest in Persimmon’s homes was encouraging.
But Mr White warned that general market indicators remained mixed and significant challenges lay ahead.
Persimmon’s Space4 closed panel timber frame manufacturing business “continued to thrive”, with demand for the kits rising 31% to 2,378 units (2009: 2089). Introduction of the Space4 Eco housing range in 2009 was responsible for a significant uptake in order intake.
“Our ability to satisfy the more demanding Building Regulations associated with the Code for Sustainable Homes up to Code Level 4 has provided Space4 with the opportunity to provide a build solution at an optimal cost level which reduced our costs of build when compared to more traditional construction methods,” Persimmon said.
About 95% of Space4 production was delivered to Persimmon group companies (2009: 85%). The factory has a forward order book of 3,000 units and further double-digit growth in output volumes are expected in 2011.
