TOP NEWS: Persimmon suffers worse-than-expected profit decline

(Alliance News) - Persimmon PLC on Wednesday reported a worse-than-expected decline in profit for ...

Alliance News 3 March, 2021 | 9:14AM
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(Alliance News) - Persimmon PLC on Wednesday reported a worse-than-expected decline in profit for 2020 amid disruption in the second quarter due to the pandemic.

The York, England-based housebuilder said revenue for 2020 fell 8.8% to GBP3.33 billion from GBP3.65 billion in 2019, partially due to a shutdown of its sites, offices and facilities at the end of March 2020. The result was in line with Persimmon's guidance in January.

Pretax profit dropped 25% to GBP783.8 million from GBP1.04 billion in 2019. Consensus expectations compiled by Bloomberg had pretax profit coming in at GBP857.4 million. Jefferies had expected a 17% decline to GBP859.5 million.

Persimmon made a provision of GBP75 million in its 2020 results, as it said it planned to do in February, in order to address cladding issues in 26 high rise buildings. A total of nine high-rise buildings over 18 metres tall and 17 smaller buildings were identified as potentially needing cladding removed. The company said in February it will lead the work on the buildings it owns, while offering assistance for those it does not own.

The cladding is considered a fire risk after the fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower, a residential tower block in London in June 2017, and killed 72 people.

New home completions by Persimmon fell to 13,575 from 15,855 in 2019, though the average selling price rose 6.9% to GBP230,534 from GBP215,709. Both figures match what Persimmon had guided back in Janaury.

Persimmon paid out dividends totalling 110 pence per share in 2020, a sizeable drop from 235p per share in 2019. However, Persimmon has set out plans for returning its total return to GBP2.35 in 2021. It will accelerate its GBP1.25 instalment to March 26 from July, followed by 55p in August and 55p in December.

Shares in Persimmon were up 4.3% at 2,825.99p in London on Wednesday.

"I am particularly pleased we have delivered all this whilst continuing to see an increase in our HBF eight-week customer satisfaction score, with our current rates above the five-star threshold. We must build on this important progress and further enhance our build quality and customer care so we are known for both outstanding service as well as outstanding value. To achieve this, we will further strengthen our build quality and independent inspection regime within the Persimmon Way. This will both drive efficiencies that will pay for these improvements and enhance our capabilities, enabling us to build a greater volume of homes at five-star," said Chief Executive Dean Finch.

Looking ahead, Persimmon said its average private weekly sales rates for the first eight weeks of 2021 were 7% ahead of last year and build rates have been maintained at pre-pandemic levels since July.

"We are targeting a full return to 2019 levels of new home completions in 2022. From 2023, with a stable market, we expect our enhanced quality, service and efficiency capabilities to provide the opportunity to grow further. We are focused on bringing more outlets into production to support these targets," said Persimmon.

By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
Persimmon PLC 1,282.50 GBX -0.74

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