Housebuilding sector rebounds with Persimmon results

The UK housebuilding sector was hit hard following the EU referendum with many firms reporting large trading losses.

Britain’s housebuilding sector has received a shot in the arm with industry giant Persimmon reporting a profit rise despite the expected impact of the referendum.

The UK housebuildingsector was hit hard following the EU referendum with many firms reporting large trading losses (more here).

Famous names such as Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Berkeley Group, who are listed on the FTSE 100 index, all saw significant dips in there share prices.

However Persimmon has reported that its profits have seen a rise of 29% in first half of yearreportingstrong customer interest in new homes.

It said it had seen a jump in the number of people reserving new homes over the two months despite many commentators predicting a lull.

Nicholas Wrigley, Persimmon’s chairman, said: “While the result of the EU referendum has created increased uncertainty, the news was quickly digested by our customers. Customer interest since then has been robust with a strengthening of visitor numbers to our sites compared to the same period last year.”

Mike Killoran, finance director at Persimmon, added: “Given the interest we are seeing on the sites from visitor traffic and people genuinely wanting to buy we can see no reason why we wouldn’t see that [autumn] seasonality continue. All the feedback we are getting from sites is that given the market we are in and the product we are offering.”

In the day following the referendum Persimmon dropped 37%of its share price but has now recovered the majority of the loss.