- Persimmon says its revenue came in 9% lower in fiscal 2020.
- The housebuilder reports £1.69 billion of forward sales.
- Average selling price jumped to £230 thousand last year.
Persimmon plc (LON: PSN) said on Wednesday that its revenue in 2020 came in 9% lower on a year over year basis. The company warned that the new variant of the Coronavirus is likely to hurt UK’s housing market in the upcoming months. With Prime Minister Boris Johnsons’ government considering tighter restrictions to combat the pandemic, Persimmon said that its performance in the upcoming months was likely to remain under pressure.
Persimmon shares slid a little under 3% on market open on Wednesday. The trend continued later in the day as the stock tumbled another 3%. The York-based company is now trading at a per-share price of £26.42 versus a low of £15.34 in March when the COVID-19 crisis was at its peak. The price action should come in handy if you are interested in investing in the stock market.
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Persimmon reports £1.69 billion of forward sales
According to Persimmon, its forward sales printed at £1.69 billion versus the year-ago figure of £1.36 billion. The housebuilding company said on Wednesday:
“Demand for new homes has remained resilient throughout the second half with the group’s average weekly sales rate per site being 39% higher than the second half of last year.”
In separate news from the United Kingdom, recruiter PageGroup said that its profit in the fiscal fourth quarter came in 20% lower on a year over year basis as the Coronavirus pandemic pushed businesses into freezing new hiring to cut costs.
Average selling price jumped to £230 thousand
Persimmon reported £3.33 billion of revenue in fiscal 2020. In the previous year, its revenue had come in at a higher £3.65 billion. Average selling price, however, jumped to £230 thousand in the recent year versus a lower £215 thousand in 2019.
As the Coronavirus pandemic fuelled demand for larger homes in recent months, house prices in the United Kingdom last year registered their biggest annual increase since 2014. But the COVID-19 driven disruptions to its supply chain and increased unplanned staff absences, Persimmon said on Wednesday, might threaten its planned build programmes in the upcoming months.
Persimmon performed slightly downbeat in the stock market last year with an annual decline of close to 4%. At the time of writing, the British housebuilding company has a market capitalisation of £8.44 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 12.49.
