Persimmon’s pre-tax profit down 52%

Persimmon’s pre-tax profit fell 52% during 2023 although it experienced a “strong” last quarter.

Reporting on its full year results for the year ending December 31 2023, the volume housebuilder said its pre-tax profit dropped from £730.7 million in 2022 to £351.8 million. “2023 was always going to be a challenging year,” it commented, “following on from the sharp rise in mortgage rates in autumn 2022 and a general climate of economic uncertainty.”

Total group revenue dropped from £3.82 billion to £2.77 billion, with housing revenue falling 31% to £2.54 billion. As expected, its underlying operating margin was 14%, down 48%.

As Persimmon reported in its trading statement of January 10, its completions were ahead of guidance at 9,922 new homes, thanks to “strong delivery” in Q4. It said it “saw a sustained pick up in interest in our homes from the lows of Q4 2022”. The private average selling price (ASP) of the homes in 2023 lifted 5% to £285,774.

Persimmon’s average private net sales rate for the year was 0.58 per outlet per week against the previous year’s 0.69.

Full year completions were still 33% below 2022’s 14,868; Persimmon's new housing gross margin decreased …