Persimmon sees group revenues fall

The housebuilder has seen its total group revenue drop from 2018 to 2019.

Persimmon sees group revenues fall

Housebuilder Persimmon achieved total group revenues of £3.65bn during 2019, down 2.4% from 2018 according to its latest trading update.

The group said this reflects the action being taken to ensure the group delivers improved levels of quality and service to its customers.

New housing revenues reduced by 3.5% from 3.55bn last year to £3.42bn this year.

Dave Jenkinson, group chief executive at Persimmon, said: “Persimmon continues to make good progress with the implementation of its customer care improvement plan.

“Central to this plan is putting customers before volume, with new home legal completions for 2019 being 4% lower than last year.

“Delivering the maximum benefit to our customers from our quality and service improvement initiatives will continue to be my top priority for 2020.

“I am pleased with the progress we have made in 2019 and there is more to do.

“Action taken to maintain our increased levels of work in progress investment, the increase in quality assurance and customer service resources, and our plans for the implementation of the recommendations of the recent Independent Review, will all add to our momentum.

“While our plans for delivering a sustained improvement in quality go far beyond a focus on the criteria of the HBF customer satisfaction survey, our current rating, which is trending strongly ahead of the four star threshold, is tangible evidence of the improvement we are making.

“I am determined that we will make further headway this year, supported by the introduction of Persimmon’s customer retention scheme from July 2019, which was a first for the industry.

“I am encouraged by the enthusiasm and commitment with which the whole Persimmon team is making the step change necessary to deliver higher levels of quality and service to our customers.

“When combined with Persimmon’s strong forward build and sales position, robust liquidity and industry-leading land holdings, I am confident of the group’s future success.”

New home legal completion volumes were 15,855, down from 16,449 last year.

These include private sales of 12,463 new homes, down from 13,341 in 2018.

Claire Thomas will step down from her role of non-executive director of Persimmon and leave on 1 February to pursue other interests.

Thomas joined the Persimmon board in August 2019.

Thomas said: “I have valued being part of the Persimmon board and the experience it presented but it has also made clear to me my preference for working in a large scale complex global business environment.

“In my time on the board I have seen clear and determined efforts to transform the business and I wish Persimmon the best in their ongoing efforts.”

Roger Devlin, chairman at Persimmon, added: "Claire has made a strong contribution to the board during her time and we are disappointed to see her leave.

“We wish her every success for the future.”