Persimmon home sales rise in second half

7th Jan 2010 07:03

Housebuilder Persimmon saw a rise in the number of home sales on which it achieved completions in the second half of 2009, but said it remains cautious on mortgage availability and the general economic situation.During the year the company legally completed the sale of 8,976 new homes, generating a turnover of about £1.4bn. Of these completions, 4,970 were achieved in the second half of 2009, an increase on the 4,006 completions achieved in the first half of 2009. The firm also reported progress in cash generation, with debt reducing from £1.2bn in April 2008 to about £270m at the end of 2009. However, Persimmon continues to invest in work in progress and new developments and acquired or agreed terms to acquire about 3,000 plots in the later months of 2009, mostly in the south.It still has about £45m available to assist with the sale of about 2,500 homes under the government's HomeBuy Direct scheme, which assists people in accessing the property market, on top of the 1000 homes already sold through the scheme.Forward sales into 2010 are about 40% ahead of last year at some £640m, the company said.'Whilst we will remain cautious until mortgage availability and the general economy improves, we have continued confidence in the long term future of the UK housing market,' said Persimmon.