Help me - I bought these a month ago - when they were being tipped all over the place. Since then the sector has gone down the swannie - should cut my losses (13%) or hold on for the long haul?

Interim Scrip Dividend Issue

Hold on, wimp! If you can't take the drops don't enter the race. Actually, Persimmon is one of the best managed in the sector, I personally hold the shares and will keep holding, depends on your outlook, how much you need the money, why did you buy them (quick gain, long term or div) and if you operate on a stop loss (you should but we all don't do what we should do) Always remember you are gambling to some extent or another, if you cannot afford the losses you're in the wrong game.

np. You could be in for further losses before any relief. The house price data is on the slide and is unlikeley to improve anytime soon. IHMO you invested in the right company at the wrong time. So If your investment horizon is years and you can mentally accept significant falls in the short term before recovery PSN is probably an OK stock.

Smile

Wow, until a couple of months ago, I used trade this one actively as its an old favourite of mine, but thought it would level off about 7 until early december before continuing up. But its now about 6 instead. The company is solid. As Minx & Smile mention, the sector is not having a good time at the moment- hence the drop in price. This share can be very volatile, and can swing heavily down as well as up, which I why I always like it (as well as the nice divi!)

An interesting 2 year chart! This share usually is at its lowest in Late Nov, early Dec, but its close to a support level of about 570. I may be talking crap, as charting is not my thing, but if it drops below 570 it is likely to continue, until the 450 level. So personally I would put a stop loss in at 570 with a limit buy at 450. I must admit I certainly will be buying large chunks of this share if goes anywhere near 450 :-)!

Forgot to mention, of course it could bounce off 570 and head north, which also is possible!

the problem with housebuilders as I see it is that they have risen on the back of increased eps over the past few years but the ratings (P/E) have not changed. If earnings start to level off or even drop and the rating remains the same there is very little upside to be had, though as lw says there is quite a bit of volatility if you can pick the peaks and troughs. Sadly I sold my BDEVs too early last year and missed quite a bit of profit. The shares are now back to where I sold them, but I'm a bit worried we are in a downtrend now that TWOD have issued a warning, so have held off buying them back for now. If I had held PSN, I would probably have been stopped out after a 13% drop in any case. The only thng that might save you is corporate action a la BKL or a takeover, but as with asking directions in Ireland, "I wouldn't start from here...." etc etc.

PSN down over 1% today on an acquision announcement (just looks like the usual little pull back to me).

First class management, cracking chart.

Looking at these as a possible recovery play....anyone who knows this share think I'm bonkers?

np1009440 did you sell or did you stick it out?

Couldn't resist getting some of these.

you're a bit too last for these if you ask me!

Have a look at the PE and PTBV on WMPY instead. Far more attractive.

Anyone currently holding these? Looks to be a reasonable defensive stock.
Chart looks to be in a healthy 'Up' trend & sp has not seemed to suffer over the last few weeks of general market panic. FY figures seem to be on target & it looks as though interest rates won't go up any more in the immediate future.

Harrycat, hi there - oh dear!
Since Aug07 sp has halved, yet yield is only shown as 3% - is this site's figure wrong ( they often are!), or is the yield still this bad?
/
Anyone buying now is getting the land-bank for free as PSN will continue to build homes ( not on flood plains, pse), and will make similar profits, albeit down a tad as house-prices appear to fall each month ((But is it only a small fall)).
/
I've been considering this stock, but with a further 5% fall today, why not wait and catch them below £5 & 4% yield?
Some folk are saying this downturn is "enough" - but we know from the past a real downturn, ( with power behind it, -the US housing fiasco which is yet to be fully-felt round the World) - er, takes a couple of years to work out.
If this started in the UK about August07 ( when you had posted, I guess), then we have at least another year. . . . say until Summer 2009 before we come to Market, feeling Good.
Sadly I don't think "now" is the time to be buying . . . . and your view?

A huge amount has changed since Aug last year, so I would say steer well clear for the moment. Until the down trend is broken for most of the house builders, I will only be watching rather than buying.

the question is , if money is going to be as tight as predicted who will buy these new houses?

Yes, plus the snowball effect of buyers unable to get credit & therefore the builders unable to shift the properties & therefore less cash to continue their building programme etc etc. Turnover will be down, profit margins will be down, divi will be down. The only appreciating asset will be their land bank. All imo.

Persimmon appears to have passed its low, for now - may I suggest another source of woe ( for Housing)?

Namely the Buy to Let market, which has been in negative profit for a couple of years as more and more folk bought properties "For their pension" ( Late '90's but also more recently from 2001 when stockmarket looked dangerous)- - - on the face of it you borrow cheaply, let the (new) property to cover the Mortgage and as the house appreciates over 20-years you take a fat profit and Retire. Many folk then re-mortgaged and now have a string of Rental properties - TV-shows making "renovation" look easy also added many 2up-2down Properties in areas where there is little work, now their Traditional Industries have gone overseas.

However, the reality is that there aren't enough Renters about, so Rental levels are NOT covering these Mortgages - never mind, -the House price (rise!) will see to that - Well it WON'T . . . . because amateur Landlords bought too much and now see a falling Market - so logically they will SELL - and until these "excess" properties are occupied there is no need for vast swathes of "New-Build" - - - so, it follows IMHO, there will be a period of slow-down and falling prices - both are BAD for Builders and associated industries.
This is not to say all house-prices will fall, just that those on new-build estates will drag others down since they will have to be cheap on account of being EMPTY and that is never good for a house, as it attracts damp and vandals.

( Harrycat:- Their land-bank is an asset, but it is also the reason for their Debt, and the debt has to be serviced - wheras the land can look after itself - having only "value" if you want it.)
What do you think?

If there aren't any new builds where are all the Polish plumbers and Romanian slave traders going to live?

Is this an immigration issue? - or are they renting one house and sub-dividing it to see how things go?
That might explain why they are eager to work, haing no domestic distractions ( for now).
Many in the building trade are employed in "Extensions and improvement" - ie Well-off folk with good jobs ( possibly excited by TV-shows), wna t their dream Kitchen, En-suite, extra space etc and don't wan to move ( because of schools, etc)....there have been stories of a handful of such workers banding together with a Brit, who is the money-man and who knows who to employ on planning etc. this troupe then improve an area as word gets round.
I'm not convinced that the UK can continue to allow immigration and even if we did they tend to be very few with Good Job prospects ( like Doctors) and very many who are keen enough but unlikely to afford a 3-bed semi starting at 200k.
These low-wage workers may occupy the 2u/2d renovated properties I mentioned ( esp. in our larger cities), but that will have little effect on the properties Persimmon builds - My guess is PSN will move up-market selling fewer Director-homes at higher prices with really good finishes, larger plots etc. - so leaving "housing estates" for a few years.
This will reduce Turnover and profits, since the land-bank (debt), that was an asset is not looking so clever in a falling/stagnating industry.......all IMHO.

EDIT: 24 April08 - PSN down 6% today - however, since its blip-high in late Jan 08 c.8, .....it is now c.6 - rather shows that this is an industry in decline IMHO.

335p today, down a little more as markets ann. falling house prices again.
This was nearly 8 in Jan08 - howzat!
As a long-term investment one of these Builders - and - one of these "Mortgage giving" Banks - - - - - will be a great investment over time

- Ah, but which one?

When RBS makes a fist of taking over another Bank ( at peak valuation!), you can be sure a punter like me knows nowt about finances. Er, except to keep my money IN a bank, rather than "on" it.
Today - received the Begging-Mail from HBos - will try to read what's in it for me later.....I suspect it's not good. I mean - what good was the money I HAVE invested in them ( just a handful of shares, probably from the demut days, if memory serves).

307p today...guess this month will show a further drop in housing price as mortgage lending rates are still going up.

2 perhaps?

Good old GORDON.

You are right, scot. PSN is heading towards 200p and below.

Persimmon will be announcing its half-year trading statement next week.
We all know what it will reveal now.

PSN said in early Jan08 ( I think) that they would maintain the dividend AND planned to increase it. That showed some strength, and you can see a mighty blip in the sp about that time.....If that was true then, it "should" be true now....as the Crunch was plain to see by anyone that is in the upper reaches of such a company....knowing people who know people etc.
Will be interesting to see the sp movement - before (=very bad, to date)...and after!
((sp is about 1/3 of what it was then...and I recall the yield was reasonably good then...making it 3x better now...er, provided the sp doesn't slip further, which may be quite a hope whatever one thinks of one of UK "better" builders - although to date I hold none.))

could be no housebuilders left in uk by feb next year.....tw. and bdev look doomed already......anyway house prices aint going to rise till 2015.....so wont be buying anything in houses till 2013 or 2014 at earliest......they will all stagnate after another 2 years at least of being battered

There may be consolidation in the Sector... er, with PSN somewhere near the top....but who knows, what rate these big-players are leaking cash. (News today, PSN losing 1000 jobs - well that will help.).
The sp today is 225, unbelievable even a month ago - and in Jan08 it was still a strong stock, although battered....( abt 7.00 ). That's some discount, just for waiting.

Yes I agree 2 is possible - at that point many will think "enough is enough" - this week PSN results and some other builders...
So, maybe next week will achieve some clarity.

I suspect we might see another UUUUU-turn.
1) Scrap HIPs and their like - we know if a house has poor insulation, and we don't need to have a school-leaver ticking boxes to calculate the energy loss - just look at the combined Oil/Gas/Electric bills. .
2) Scrap the step in duty at 250k - this is creating a weird no-home zone....taxes should not be steped....
3) Something else...can't remember...some Government manipulation for our own good!

If the Housing Market can see some Government action, that might encourage movement - and movement creates a better climate. It's the lack of movement that makes folk wary - prices may fall, so they wait. Low prices stop folk down-sizing and the lack of deals puts pressure on the Market.

I don't think the Sector will disapear - houses are needed and new development are always popular.....except in these uncertain days.

PSN will be showing another bout of downtrend with further bad news from the building sector...I think it is sell now at 340p.

i dont hold these........but do u ever pick any winners hyleo?

also, your recent sells at des, jhl etc have shown you cant even predict downtrends in a bad market......when bull market appears again, it will be even funnier watching your predictions

We will see with PSN.

Good news for out-of-favour building stocks
PSN has reduced its something and it's looking good, it seems.
With Buys/Sells almost evens MM's have upped the price quite a lot...so new punters must be willing to pay more -

Why?
Have the young suddenly found some dosh under their matress - OR - the Government abolished Stamp-Duty ( hopes!)...No! - So, no real Market changes, just PSN adjusting their coats, for the cloder climate.

Still, good news if you bought recently.

I really can't see what the excitement is about PSN today...bad news all over...profits down miserably but mm's trying to console by saying it's not that bad and dividend cut to only 5p from 18.5p.
It will go back down below 300p...



Persimmon H1 profit slides, cuts dividend - AFX


LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - British housebuilder Persimmon Plc. reported a 64 percent fall in first-half pretax profit on Thursday and said it was cutting its dividend.

It blamed very difficult market conditions and uncertainty for the rest of 2008 for the cut in the payout to 5 pence per share from 18.5 pence.

Home sales were down 31 percent year-on-year as buyers found it much harder to get mortgages, but the company said sales volumes since April have not deteriorated any further.

Share in the company, which peaked at 1,544 pence in January 2007, were up 1.84 percent to 304.25 pence at 0727 GMT.

'We are surprised to see the group claiming that trading has not deteriorated since the slowdown in April, which flies in the face of comments from others housebuilders,' Landsbanki analyst Simon Brown said.

'This and the anticipated free cash flow of 200 million pounds in the second half should reassure doubters that Persimmon can successfully weather this storm.'

Persimmon, which in the last few months has restructured and cut 1,100 jobs, was cautious in its outlook as prices and margins remained under pressure in an industry trying to dispose of stocks of houses. It said that activity levels in the autumn selling season would give a clearer picture for 2009.

'The recent speculation regarding a change to stamp duty on housing transactions has undoubtedly caused further delay and uncertainty in respect of house purchases,' the housebuilder said.

'However, we are pleased that the government has confirmed it is considering various alternatives for assisting the housing market, particularly with respect to improving mortgage availability.'

Persimmon, Britain's biggest housebuilder by market value and number three by homes built, posted 100.9 million pounds in pretax profit for the six months to end-June, compared with 281.1 million last year and two analysts' estimates of 102.7 million and 104.9 million pounds.

It announced land write-downs of around 40 million pounds, in line with its comments in July that they would be in the tens of millions, and said its debt levels of 905.5 million pounds are comfortably within its committed facilities of 1.4 billion pounds.

I'm with hyleo ... goes up for years then down for years , this aint the bottom imho , until kids can afford to buy a house then we aint seen the bottom.

dil

average salary is only about 20-25k..........average house price was about 185-200k.........its down to about 170k now roughly

if u r waiting for someone on 20k to afford a place, then it will be 20 years unless house prices fall to average 80k or something silly which i doubt.

so i aint sure why u saying we gotta wait for young people to afford a house........i'm afraid last 10 years has left them behind

also u need 25% paid up to get decent mortgage......so person needs at least 40k prob in cash inc fees, stamp duty etc.......so again making it hard for young people.

it will be like travelling by plane soon in future.......only for the wealthier people.

uk has 2 type of people now........wealthy or poor/pauper......the gap is huge between people now

Hi Scottygetting a handle on this latest housbuilder newsPsn was a cry for help to the Government.the falling prices effect everyonea 5mil property portfolio is worth 4mil.people living in a large detached already stretched are being finished off by huge increases in ordinary billsin the middle markets where familys moved frequently to re-arrange their debt levels and rely on 20% equity increasesare trumpedand at the bottom end where youngsters cant get in because of sub-prime.are now forced to high rental shares.. those already in are sitting on minus equity and trapped to the tillerno first move no chain!no chain no house builders! families unable get everyday credit have killed retail home wareand the knock-on goes onThe very people that started the problemsgiving 120% loans to Cocker Spaniels have escaped the fallout and are getting bailed out by the government using the victims moneygood job we all listened to that twat Brown Britain are now reaping the rewardsand it has only just begun. imho!

when does market close today? Is it 12:00?

are you for real scotinvestor ? not sure what planet your on, but when you do re visit earth, you'll find a far more complicated scenario than your highly simplistic ' 2 type of people ' analogy.

4.30pm ahoj

I agree with scotinvestor two types of people scots who run the country and the english who watch, the big cockup.

Let the scots have independence then Brussels will have to pay for their extra handouts instead of the English.

problem is many of my english friends have fled england.....and gov has brought in several millions of immigrants......and 25% of babies born are from these new immigrants.....so more dilution

halifax........you mention scots......in that case, its australia, canada, usa, nz etc as there are more there than in scotland.....we have 20% english though....go and do some homework halifax before making stupid comments like u do on most threads......oh and scotland gives 10 billion in oil alone each year and its extra 5 billion on top of that this year.....and england has squandered it all as usual like they have done for 25 years........big oil boys have had enough of it and r pulling out going abroad just like most brits........and now gov r realising they need more oil and trying to improve production......it takes time and there is litle incentive.

ps: country is run by advisors.....faceless people that we dont hear about

YEah scottish advisors.PSN 360p

Just gone up 30% presumably on short covering, now in auction.

Direcetor-related purchases amount to a sizeable amount 20kx4 = 80k-ish
However, this is spread over several persons, probably children - so the expectation is their shares are long-term gifts, which may improve on their own.
Normally I discount any Dir-purchases below 50k, so this series of trades should be ignored.

Yes, the current sp is steadying a little above the dip July08(-ish), so that's good, BUT not that good as I see no Long-Term improvements in Housing, land-values. What I do see is PSN having a problem with their Debt - to service the Land-bank and on-going Director costs since building has all but stopped.
Oakdene is another with a similar (Land) issue ( although much smaller Mkt Cap).

Builders need a land-bank but should ahve hived it off to another company, perhaps so it if "off their books" . . .

Persimmon also painted a gloomy picture of the sector in an interim management statement yesterday, brought forward by almost a month because of the financial crisis's impact on the housing market. The housebuilder reported new writedowns of 600m, taking the company's total for the year to date to 640m. Persimmon also said it now expects its homes to sell for 10pc less than they did in 2007, after previously predicting a 5pc fall.

"The uncertainty created in the housing market by the increasingly turbulent and uncertain outlook in financial markets has had a negative impact on all our regions across the UK," the company said. "The availability of mortgages has continued to be very restricted and cancellation rates have increased to about 35pc over recent weeks due to these market uncertainties. Sales conditions remain extremely competitive, while incentives and marketing costs are increasing leading to further margin pressures."

The company said that it was "fully supportive" of Government plans to increase mortgage availability to 2007 levels, as outlined in the bank bail-out plan, but warned that until these take effect "we do not expect to see any improvement in trading conditions".

Despite the writedowns, shares in Persimmon rose 5pc to 227p as the company said underlying trading results for the year to December 31 will be in line with expectations. Persimmon expects to complete 10,000 houses in 2008, 35pc less than last year, and expects to increase sales in the more resilient social housing sector by 25pc.

I'm watching psn and bwy for a entry near the bottom hopefully, these are two housebuilders that seem the strongest.

I have decided to use the golden cross as an indication of when to purchase. Look at the 10 year chart above, and you will notice 3 gold crosses in 1999, and 2000, the sp bounced along the bottom for a few years,and if you used the first signal it would just have meant going sideways before the gains.

Interestingly if you look at the chart today we are still some way off a gold cross, it could be another 6 month's before we see one. We might be near the bottom now I'm not sure, but lets see if history repeats itself from the last downturn.

Tried to spread bet it short to no avail. No market. No way this won't drop during the day from current +11%

Hose price continuing to drop...PSN can't sustain at 245p.


House Prices decline 2.2% in December
MoneyAM
Average UK House prices fell by 2.2% during December, according to the Halifax Building Society. House prices nationally are now 16.25% lower than 12 months ago.

Halifax says that the house price to earnings ratio is at its lowest for five and a half years. At 4.44, this is the lowest since April 2003 but is still above the long term average of 4.0

Housing market now certainly starting to show signs of improvement and recovery albeit at a steady pace.

Perismmon chart looks pretty solid and a rise up to 400p within the uptrend channel could be on the cards and fairly smartish

I'm still waiting for that gold cross, it looks closer now for both PSN and BWY, BWY chart shows the same bull channel as PSN. The reason I'm using this golden cross is that it worked well in 2002/3, and hopefully will work again.

Hi Spitters,

Zak Mir chartist over on tips reckons its already happened.

think hes using 10 day and 20 day MAs. (yep he as confirmed this.

I also like Bellway.

Did a stockscreen and the housing sector came out very strongly hence my movement into this area .

regards.

Bonsoir g/f

Just checked using 9 day and 25 day MAs, and it has already crossed.

I was using a much longer MA of 50 and 200, and expected them to
bounce along the bottom a bit longer.

Noticed that Naked Trader brought PSN last week also.

Robbie Burns, didnt know that, not a big fan of SMIRKEY BURNS and still dont know how he gets away with tipping stocks but is not FSA covered, anyway sorry about that, but yep think both of us are onto winners here. ( watch the crowd follow months after)

Redrow, could be about to spring upwards.

Keep an eye out spitters.

Stay in touch. regards GF.

Good analysis friom PRO TA- er ZAK MIR..

http://sharecrazy.com/beta/Tips/1526/a-star-a-dog-and-a-rebound

PSN the star by the way.

Taken from he Blue Index blog

Persimmon and on
April 23rd, 2009

A sure sign today that the UK housing market is at least firming up and finding a bottom. We still have one helluva long way to go though, and while Darlings budget yesterday seems to have been universally slated, there were a few items to help stimulate the housing market:

* Stamp duty holiday extended until the end of 2009
* Mortgage Interest Scheme extended by six months
* Introduce mortgage security backed guarantee to help banks lend
* Invest 80 million to shared ownership HomeBuy scheme
* Reduce restraints on new contruction to help meeting demand for housing
* 500 million of support for house building firms to deliver 1,000s of new homes, including 100 million for green housing
* 50 million to modernise homes for people in the armed forces

On the face of it, that provides plenty of stimulus and support for Persimmon (PSN), the UKs second-largest house builder by market cap. Persimmon updated on trading, saying Q1 volumes continued ahead of expectations, and said while the recent improvement in market conditions is encouraging, it remains cautious about the outlook until mortgage availability improves further and employment prospects become less uncertain. The group said it currently has 6,500 homes reserved, contracted or legally completed with total sales revenue of about GBP960m, and added its position in the market will provide a strong platform for growth when the market improves. The trading update covers the 16 weeks since the start of the year.

The rest of the article is here
http://blog.blueindex.co.uk/2009/04/persimmon-and-on/

Strong move up on the back of trading update.

Just sniffing the fresh air.

NO SMELL JUST LOVELY AIR.

Interesting to see all the builders under stress. With the improvement in the housing market shuddering to a halt, IMHO there is a real risk that the economy/ SM is going to rollover. Perhaps quantitative easing will support things but I for one am quite happy to keep a cash pile until we see where things are going.

From Digitallook today:
"The wheels have come off the Persimmon revival bandwagon this year with the stock coming down from its January peak of around 500p to dip below 400p at one point but they are back on the rise after Tuesday's results, with good cause, in Panmure Gordon's view.

The broker has upgraded its price target for the housebuilder to 555p from 549p and retained its 'buy' recommendation after Persimmon announced 2009 figures that were ahead of Panmure's expectations.

"A continued focus on operating margins at the business, has significantly improved profitability and this should continue. Whilst concerns remain over the fragility of the UK mortgage market and ongoing economic conditions, these are reflected in our assumptions," Panmure Gordon said, adding that it would revise its projections after the company's analysts' meeting.

The Panmure team's early thoughts are that its £13m profit before tax forecast for 2010 will be bumped up, possibly as high as £75m."

"Prime Markets says that the dividend boost at house-builder Persimmon should support a break higher in the shares and reiterates its buy recommendation on the stock.

Housebuilder Persimmon has today produced a sterling set of numbers, offsetting a revenue fall with a profits boos t while reducing net finance costs and net borrowings, said head of dealing at Prime Markets, Richard Curr.

The broker expects shares to pick up to 413p in the coming seven to ten days."

Persimmon plc today announces Final Results for the year ended
31 December 2011


Highlights

· Underlying pre-tax profits* increased 55% to £148.1m (2010: £95.5m)
· Full year revenue of £1.54bn (2010: £1.57bn)
· Legal completions steady at 9,360 (2010: 9,384) and average selling price** reduced by 2% to £166,142 (2010: £169,339) reflecting a greater proportion of first time buyer homes in the sales mix
· Operating margin* increased to 10.0% (2010: 8.2%); with second half improvement to 10.8%
· Strong cash generation of £119m with net cash of £41m at year end (2010: net borrowings of £51m)
· Healthy landbank, with c.14,300 plots acquired in the year, bringing the total of owned and controlled plots to c.63,300, representing over 6.5 years supply
· Continued focus on the development of strategic land with c.50% of replacement land successfully converted from the Group's strategic landbank
· Net assets per share increased by 5% to 608.6p (2010: 579.1p)
· Underlying basic earnings per share* increased by 48% to 36.8p (2010: 24.8p)
· Increased final dividend of 6.0p per share (2010: 4.5p per share), making a total of 10.0p for the year, an increase of 33%
· Strong forward sales of £927.4m (2010: £848.1m) - up 9.4%

*stated before exceptional items and goodwill charges
**stated before fair value charge on shared equity sales


Strategic review and long term Capital Return Plan

· Detailed strategy review that seeks to take full advantage of Persimmon's excellent prospects, while maintaining the Group's capital discipline
· Programme to return £1.9bn (£6.20 per share) of cash to shareholders by way of dividends over 9.5 years, from 2013 to 2021
· Group to remain largely ungeared throughout this period
· Strength of the Persimmon business model will support development of a stronger, larger business over the next decade while maximising return on capital employed and providing greater certainty of returns to shareholders
· We believe that successful execution of this strategy will optimise the financial performance of the business and enhance value for shareholders

Nicholas Wrigley, Group Chairman, said: "Underlying profit before tax grew by 55% during the year, as Persimmon's successful strategy of improving operating margins, investing in high quality land and generating surplus cash to pay down debt proved highly effective, despite difficult prevailing housing market conditions.

Looking ahead, we have made a strong start to the year, with forward sales up by 9.4% to £927 million. Visitor levels and reservations continue on an improving trend and, although we expect the UK housing market to remain difficult, Persimmon is in a strong position to meet this challenge.

In addition to the strong financial results we are reporting today I am pleased to announce the conclusion of a strategic review, which will see Persimmon return £1.9bn of cash to shareholders over the next 9.5 years, whilst maintaining a largely ungeared balance sheet. This new strategy sets Persimmon on course to build a stronger, larger business and deliver enhanced shareholder returns over the next decade."

Excellent volume so far.

It's a nice "Up-Market" business; but the time to buy was 2008 (under £2!) so that now the Yield would be nearer 5% - as it is, anyone buying now (£7), is getting a poor Yield despite it being raised to 10p/sh (News, today-DYOR), over the year.
[PSN] PE is almost 10, making this about 3x the "value" of TW, - but TW. is yet to return to Dividends. I hold only [TW.] and suspect TW will increase in value more than PSN, as it has further to (re-)gain. I bought TW about 30p av....now double-ish.
I think the figures released really show the housing mkt has yet to gain legs.....all down to Banking Loan restrictions, etc.
IMHO.

RNS Number : 2978Y

Persimmon PLC

28 February 2012

28 February 2012

Persimmon Plc

Directorate Change

Persimmon Plc (the "Company") is pleased to announce that Richard Pennycook, Non-Executive Director will be appointed as the Senior Independent Director on 19 April 2012, in succession to David Thompson who is retiring as a Non-Executive Director on that date, as announced earlier today.

The Company also announces that Mark Preston, Non-Executive Director was appointed to both the Audit and Remuneration Committees on 27 February 2012, following David Thompson's retirement from both of these committees on that date.

G N Francis

Group Company Secretary

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

Persimmon is expected to report a good first-half performance when it updates the market on Tuesday.

The housebuilder continues to make good progress in all its main areas and has a profit margin that most of its main competitors can only admire.

Analysts at Panmure said the company should report a good balance sheet with a net cash position.

“For 2012 we believe that Persimmon will report a 2.1pc increase in volumes [this is conservative], and a 1pc increase in pricing. Net margins are likely to increase by 140bps in our view as the group benefits from a higher proportion of new land.”

Profits before tax for the full year are expected to come in at £178.8m.

After a good start to the year attention will be focused on the second half, particularly August, which is typically a quiet month. The Olympics could exacerbate any slowdown.

Persimmon is likely to update the market on completions the number of houses sold during the period as well as work on developing the company’s land bank.

Trading Update

Persimmon plc announces the following update ahead of its Half Year Results to 30 June 2012, which will be released on Tuesday 21 August 2012.

We legally completed 4,712 new homes (2011: 4,439) in the first six months of 2012, an increase of 6% on the prior year. Sales rates have continued to run ahead of 2011 through the Spring season, with weekly average private sales rate per site for the first half being c. 18% ahead. Turnover for the first half was c. £805 million, a c. 13% increase on the previous year. Cancellation rates remain at low levels in line with the prior year at c. 18%.

Bovis's sector peer, Persimmon (LSE: PSN.L - news) , follows up on Tuesday with its interims. "Attention will focus on current trade comments in our view, in order to get a feel for the sector's health ahead of the important Autumn trading season," Panmure Gordon said.

Interim Results

Highlights


· Underlying pre-tax profits* increased 65% to £98.7m (2011: £59.7m)

· Revenue 13% ahead at £806.7m (2011: £712.8m)

· Legal completions up 6% to 4,712 (2011: 4,439) and average selling price increased 7% to £171,206 (2011: £160,583)

· Strong improvement in operating margin** increasing 320bps to 12.2% (2011: 9.0%)

· Excellent cash generation of £112.9m (2011: £55.1m) with net cash of £135.2m as at 30 June 2012 (June 2011: net borrowings of £15.2m)

· Landbank strengthened, 5,779 new plots acquired on 50 sites in the first half of the year, bringing the total of owned and controlled plots to 63,786 (2011: 62,364), representing over 6.5 years supply at current sales levels

· Continued focus on the development of strategic land with c.34% of replacement land successfully converted from the Group's strategic landbank

· Net assets per share increased 4% to 625.7p (2011: 601.1p)

· Underlying basic earnings per share* increased 66% to 25.7p (2011: 15.5p)

· Strong forward sales of £1,041m (2011: £1,005m) - up 4%

*stated before exceptional items of £1.7m (2011: £2.2m) and goodwill impairment of £2.1m (2011: £1.6m)

** stated before exceptional items of £1.7m (2011: £12.0m) and goodwill impairment of £2.1m (2011: £1.6m)

Capital Return Plan

· Strong first half performance represents an excellent start to the delivery of the new strategy and plan to return £1.9bn (620p per share) to shareholders over 9 years

Group well on track to make first dividend payment of 75p per share in June 2013

I am so liking that last line skinny that on any weakness I'll be adding more.

They plan to return £6.20 of surplus capital over the next 9 years !

Yep - tough eh! :-)

Bought a shed load of housebuilders earlier this year. Timing was crap as it was near the previous peak of most of them but they are all attacking or breaking those previous high's recently.

Bottom of the cycle reached and now its a case of hanging on til the boom that will happen as sure as night follows day.

Take your pick!

Peel Hunt retains it's Buy Tp increased from 675p to 730p

Panmure Gordon downgrades to Hold Tp raised from 689p to 696p

Numis downgrades to Hold Tp 731p

Davy Research reiterates it's Outperform (no Tp)

Shore Capital reiterates it's sell (no Tp)

Northland Capital reiterates it's Buy Tp 725p

Persimmon (LSE: PSN.L - news)

Half-time results from Persimmon didn't impress the market, either, and the shares fell back 13.5p (2%) to 691p, even though the housebuilder told us of a 65% boost in pre-tax profits, to £98.7m, on revenue up 13% to £806.7m. Completions rose 6% to 4,712, with a 7% higher average selling price of £171,206.

So why the fall? Well, the market has started to gain confidence in the housebuilding recovery, and it's possible that some were getting a little over-exhuberant and were expecting even more

Trading Statement

Persimmon plc announces the following update ahead of its Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2012, which will be released on 25 February 2013.

The volume of new homes legally completed increased by 6% over the prior year to 9,903 (2011: 9,360). With an average selling price of c. £173,400 (2011: £163,999), also 6% ahead of the prior year, revenues for the period totalled c. £1.72 bn (2011: £1.54 bn), an increase of 12%.

We welcome the renewal of the Government sponsored FirstBuy scheme on 26 September 2012 which has led to a strengthening of first time buyer interest in our sites as we re-launched our FirstBuy marketing programme. We have recently secured an additional allocation of c. 3,000 new homes as part of the FirstBuy funding. As a result, we anticipate an increase in sales to first time buyers as we enter the new spring season in 2013.

As indicated in our Interim Management Statement on 13 November 2012 our underlying operating margin continued to strengthen in the second half and we anticipate that it will be c. 13% for the full year (2011: 10.0%), with our second half margin over 13.5% (2011: 10.8%).

Margin improvement remains a key part of our strategy, with the medium term aim of returning to underlying operating margins within the range of 15% to 17%. We believe we have made further encouraging strides towards achieving this objective through the launch of new sites offering attractive returns and exercising firm control over our costs . We have successfully opened all 60 new sites scheduled for the second half of the year and are currently selling from c. 375 sites. We anticipate further growth in our outlet network in the first half of 2013. Our forward sales at the year end totalled c. £645m (2011: £615m) which provides a healthy platform for 2013.

We have continued to invest in the future growth of the business, acquiring c. 9,400 plots of new land at attractive values in the second half of the year. At 31 December 2012 the plots owned and under control in our consented land back totalled c. 68,000 plots (2011: 63,335).

Despite continuing to make substantial new investments in our forward land supply we have delivered strong free cash generation due to the continued improvement in cash margins. We held c. £200 million of cash balances at 31 December 2012 (2011: £41 million).

The combination of improved margins, strong cash generation and substantial land acquisition places
the business in a robust position for the delivery of our long term strategy.

Persimmon has also announced today that Mike Farley, Group Chief Executive, has decided to retire at the AGM in April and will be succeeded by Jeff Fairburn, currently Persimmon's Group Managing Director and CEO of the Northern Division. Details of this appointment, together with a number of other management changes, are contained in a separate announcement also being released today.

We will give a further update on our assessment of the housing market over the early weeks of 2013 when we announce our results for the year ended 31 December 2012 on Monday 25 February 2013.

In the Sunday Mail today - builders see signs of spring as housing market blossoms.

Persimmon is forecast to unveil a pre tax profit of £206m for 2012, up from £164m in 2011. Shares reached 909.5p on Friday, having started the week at 875.5p.

Final Results

Highlights

· Underlying profit before tax increased by 52% to £225.1m (2011: £148.1m)
· Full year revenue up 12% to £1.72bn (2011: £1.54bn)
· Legal completions increased by 6% to 9,903 (2011: 9,360) and average selling price* increased 6% to £175,640 (2011: £166,142)
· Operating margin** increased to 13% (2011: 10%); with second half improvement to 13.7%
· Return on capital employed increased by 47% to 12.2% (2011: 8.3%)
· A further c.14,800 plots acquired in the year bringing consented landbank to 68,200 representing 6.9 years supply
· Continued focus on the development of strategic land with c.38% of replacement land successfully converted from the Group's strategic landbank
· Underlying basic earnings per share** increased by 57% to 57.6p (2011: 36.8p)
· Net cash of £201m at 31 December 2012 (2011: £41m cash)
· Pre dividend cash generation of £179m
· Forward sales strongly ahead at over £1bn (2012: £927.4 million), an increase of 9%
· Management succession plan announced in January 2013. Mike Farley, Group Chief Executive to retire at AGM in April and will be succeeded by Jeff Fairburn, Group Managing Director

Capital Return Plan

· Excellent start to the delivery of the new long term strategy and a solid outperformance of initial expectations
· First cash return from long term capital return plan, 75p per share, to be paid on 28th June 2013, subject to shareholder approval

*stated before fair value charge on shared equity sales
**stated before exceptional items and goodwill impairment

Citi tipsters also cast their eyes over the housing market a day after Bovis Homes (LON:BVS) and Persimmon (LON:PSN) reported their results yesterday.

Citi reckons Bovis shares are likely to take a breather after a strong run as it cuts the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’.

The housebuilder is now nearing the broker’s target price of 710p.

“More promotion of strategic land in 2013 should negatively impact 2013 profits by around £3.5m, but this should boost the land bank and improve future profitability,” Citi added.

As for Persimmon, Citi believes the cash inflow from operating activities is a sound basis for the group to deliver its capital return strategy without denting the balance sheet.

Persimmon (Other OTC: PSMMF - news) : Deutsche Bank increases target price from 849p to 916p leaving its hold recommendation unchanged. Goldman Sachs revises target price from 895p to 905p and stays with its neutral rating.

Proposed Return Of Cash To Shareholders

Persimmon PLC (PSN:LSE) set a new 52-week high during today's trading session when it reached 1,053.84. Over this period, the share price is up 49.52%.


As of Mar 19, 2013, the consensus forecast amongst 15 polled investment analysts covering Persimmon plc advises that the company will outperform the market. This has been the consensus forecast since the sentiment of investment analysts improved on Jun 29, 2012. The previous consensus forecast advised investors to hold their position in Persimmon plc.

What's the best option regarding the return of cash to shareholders: dividend or shares? What are the tax implications for holdings in a SIPP or ISA?

Persimmon proposes return of cash to shareholders
Mon 18 Mar 2013

PSN - Persimmon


LONDON (SHARECAST) - FTSE 250-listed house building company Persimmon has issued a circular containing details of a proposed 75p per share return of cash to shareholders worth approximately 227m pounds altogether.

The proposed 75p per share cash return is the first payment under the group’s capital return plan and the circular includes a notice convening a general meeting of the company to be held on the same day as the annual general meeting, on April 18th, to approve the return of cash.

The group said that it would propose to effect the return of cash through a bonus issue of B Shares and/or C Shares which were intended to enable shareholders to elect to receive their return of cash proceeds as either a return of capital or as dividend income or any combination of the two, subject to applicable overseas restrictions.

Under this proposed return of cash, and subject to shareholder approval being obtained, Persimmon said that for every one existing ordinary share held at 6.00 pm on April 19th 2013, 75p is to be returned to shareholders through the issue to them of either one B Share - which will be redeemed by the company for 75p - or one C Share - on which a dividend of 75p will be paid - after which the C Share will be automatically reclassified as a deferred share and subsequently repurchased by the company for an aggregate consideration of one penny and then cancelled.

The announcement follows an update issued by the company in February 2012 when the company announced a strategy that aimed to return £1.9bn - or £6.20 per share - of surplus capital to shareholders over nine and a half years ending in 2021.

Persimmon’s shares were up 1.0% to 962.50p at 13:16 on Monday

Sold my holding - 1000 shares been in since 1st July 2012 @ 638p :-))

Interim Management Statement

Trading Statement

"The Group legally completed 5,022 new homes (2012: 4,712)".. I wonder how many illegal's were started though?

Ed: Looks like the good news is already in the price.. but.

Half Yearly Report

Highlights

· Legal completions up 7% to 5,022 (2012: 4,712)
· Underlying pre-tax profits* increased 40% to £135.3m (2012: £96.9m†)
· Revenue 12% ahead at £899.9m (2012: £806.7m)
· Strong improvement in operating margin* increasing 300bps to 15.1% (2012: 12.1%†) achieving targeted operating margin range eighteen months ahead of plan
· Underlying basic earnings per share* increased 35% to 34.1p (2012: 25.2p†)
· Net cash inflow from operating activities increased 38% to £143.0 million (2012: £104.0 million); net cash of £48.1m as at 30 June 2013 (2012: £135.2m)
· Strong investment in new land of £236 million (2012: £142 million); 7,538 new plots acquired bringing the total of owned and controlled plots to 70,716 (2012: 63,786)
· Underlying return on average capital employed** up 40% at 14.1% (2012: 10.1%)
· Forward sales up 21% at £1,257m (2012: £1,041m)
· Achieved over 1,700 reservations under Help to Buy since the scheme launched

Interim Management Statement

Trading update Wednesday 8th January 2014, should give a read across to other house builders like Taylor Wimpey etc.

Trading Statement

he Group has had a strong finish to the year. As indicated in our Interim Management Statement on 6 November 2013 we responded swiftly to the significant increase in weekly sales rates by substantially increasing our construction activity across the country. We are pleased to report that the Group has increased the volume of new house sales delivered to 11,528 for the year, 16% ahead of the previous year. Our robust build disciplines enabled the Group to legally complete 6,506 new homes in the second half of the year which is an increase of 30% over the first half of 2013. Second half sales volumes are 25% ahead of the prior year (2012 : 5,191).

The average selling price for our 2013 legal completions was c.£180,900, an increase of 4% over 2012 (£173,823). This increase is due to the change in mix of sales of our traditional family housing across the UK year on year. Full year revenues of £2.1bn represents an increase of 21% over the prior year.

This growth in revenues and the anticipated further improvement in operating margins will enable us to deliver strong underlying pre tax profit growth for the year ended 31 December 2013 demonstrating further progress with the delivery of the long term strategic plan announced in February 2012.

We acquired c.17,600 plots of new land during 2013, representing a replacement rate of 153% of current consumption, and once again demonstrating our appetite to invest in further growth. The land market in our regional operating areas continues to offer attractive investment opportunities with c.10,100 plots acquired in the second half of 2013.

Of the c.17,600 plots acquired in 2013, over 5,500 plots were converted from our strategic land bank. The superior returns from these strategic land parcels will support Group profitability and cashflows as they are developed over future years.

In line with expectations, we successfully opened the 85 sites identified for the second six months of 2013 and enter the new year with 390 active sites across the UK. We anticipate opening a further 90 new sites in the first half of 2014 and expect to see stable total active site numbers through the first half of 2014.

We continued to experience robust private sales rates through to the year end and despite the substantial increase in legal completions achieved in the second half of 2013, the value of our total forward sales at 31 December 2013 was 41% ahead of the prior year at c.£908m (2012 : £645m). The number of reserved and exchanged private sales carried forward into 2014, at over 3,000 new homes, is c.55% stronger than at the same time last year. A similar number of affordable homes have been pre-sold reflecting a c.9% increase on the prior year. This strong forward sales position provides a solid platform for further sales growth in 2014.

Our cash holdings have continued to strengthen despite our strong investment in land and work in progress through the second half of the year. We held cash balances of c.£204m at 31 December 2013 (2012 : £201m).

We will give a further update on our assessment of the housing market over the early weeks of 2014 when we announce our results for the year ended 31 December 2013 on Tuesday 25 February 2014.

Final Results

Highlights

· Underlying profit before tax* increased by 49% to £330m (2012: £222m**)
· Full year revenue up 21% to £2.1bn (2012: £1.7bn)
· Legal completions increased by 16% to 11,528 (2012: 9,903) and average selling price*** increased 4% to £181,861 (2012: £175,640)
· Operating margin* increased to 16.0% (2012: 12.9%**); with second half improvement to 16.6%
· Return on average capital employed* increased by 44% to 17.6% (2012: 12.2%)
· A further 17,735 plots of land acquired in the year bringing consented landbank to 74,407 representing 6.5 years supply
· Continued focus on the development of strategic land with 33% of replacement land successfully converted from the Group's strategic land portfolio
· Underlying basic earnings per share* increased by 47% to 83.3p (2012: 56.7p**)
· Net cash of £204m at 31 December 2013 (2012: £201m cash)
· Forward sales^ strongly ahead at over £1.4bn (2013: £1.0bn), an increase of 41%

Capital Return Plan
· First instalment of £228m (75p per share) under the Capital Return Plan paid 28 June 2013
· Success in meeting increased demand and growing the business has generated £231m of free cash before capital return payment and enabled an acceleration of the Capital Return Plan
‐ 70p per share to be paid on 4 July 2014, being a part acceleration of the final planned payment of 115p per share in 2021
‐ Planned 95p per share payment for 2015 reinstated in full
‐ Payments of at least 10p per share to be made in both 2016 and 2018, part accelerated from the final planned payment for 2021.

*stated before exceptional items and goodwill impairment
**restated for amendment to IAS 19 : Employee Benefits
*** stated before fair value charge on shared equity sales
^ as at 24 February 2014

Ex-divi 5th JUN 2014 (70p)

March 12: Goldman Sachs: Buy - TP down from 1892p to 1840p. DownGrade

Interim Management Statement

Persimmon plc ("the Company") will hold its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") at 12.00 noon today at York Racecourse when the Chairman will make the following statement regarding current trading, financial performance and the outlook for the current financial year. This statement covers the period from 1 January 2014 to date and supplements the update given with the 2013 Final Results on 25 February 2014.

The new financial year has started well with visitor levels to our sites up 10% over the prior year during the initial fifteen weeks of trading. Cancellation rates over this period of 14% continue to run at historically low levels (2013: 15%).

Our weekly private sales rate per site for the first fifteen weeks of 2014 was 25% ahead of the prior year. Together with the strong sales position brought forward into the new year, this improved rate of sale results in current total forward sales of £1.87 billion for 2014, which includes legal completions taken so far this year. Total forward sales revenue is 35% higher than in 2013 (£1.38 billion). We have c.7,200 new homes sold forward into the private sale market for 2014 which is 38% ahead of the same point last year, with an average selling price of c.£200,400 which is c.3% higher.

We currently have c.395 active sites across the UK and have successfully opened 75 of the 90 new outlets targeted for the first half of 2014 to refresh this network. Our build activity continues to support the improved rates of sale and we remain confident of delivering further growth in the number of new homes legally completed for 2014.

The Government sponsored Help to Buy shared equity scheme in England reached its first anniversary on 1 April 2014 and we have now sold c.5,000 new homes to customers using mortgages associated with this scheme, of which 2,203 legally completed in 2013. In addition, we have sold a further c.600 new homes in Scotland and Wales to customers using similar mortgage products in these regional markets.

The recently announced extension of Help to Buy from March 2016 to March 2020 provides welcome support to potential new home purchasers for this additional four year period. As a consequence, and with the support of the mortgage lending industry, housebuilders have the opportunity to continue to increase the industry's development commitments in support of increasing the number of new homes delivered to the market over the medium term.

Our strategy remains focussed on exercising capital discipline through the cycle whilst growing the business as market conditions allow. Our commitment to return c.£1.9 billion of surplus capital to shareholders over the period to 2021 is a key feature of this capital discipline. In the Final Results statement on 25 February 2014 the Directors announced a further acceleration of this programme of capital return. Subject to shareholder approval at the AGM, the second payment of the Capital Return Plan of c.£213 million, or 70p per share, will be paid to shareholders on 4 July 2014. This 70p per share payment is a part acceleration of the 115p final payment originally planned for 2021. The record date is 6.00 p.m. on 4 June 2014 and the shares trade ex-entitlement from 8.00 a.m. on 5 June 2014.

In line with the approach adopted with the first payment under the Capital Return Plan in 2013, the Directors will offer shareholders the opportunity, where possible, to choose to receive the cash either as a return of capital or as dividend income by way of a B / C share scheme. Full details of the B / C share proposal have been sent to shareholders with the notice of the Company's AGM. The closing date for elections to be made by shareholders is 11.00 a.m. on 20 June 2014.

The Directors are pleased to announce that the Company has recently concluded an amendment of its £300 million Revolving Credit Facility with the Company's five relationship banks. The new facility has been extended to a maturity date of 31 March 2019.

We will provide a further report on progress in our Trading Update on Wednesday 2 July 2014.

I wonder if this might be worth a dabble before the 70p ex-divi date (5th Jun). Looks to be a little upside in the sp with the divi safety net if the trade goes wrong.

Interim Management Statement

TRADING UPDATE - 7 JANUARY 2015

Persimmon plc announces the following update ahead of its Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2014, which will be released on 24 February 2015.

The Group delivered a strong performance in 2014 with an increase of 17% in legal completions to 13,509 new homes (2013: 11,528). The 36% increase in the number of new homes delivered to the market by Persimmon over the last two years reflects the growth of the business in line with the objectives of the Group's long term strategic plan.

The average selling price for the Group in 2014 was c. £190,500, an increase of 5% over 2013 (£180,941). Full year revenues increased 23% over the prior year to £2.6bn (2013: £2.1bn).

The Group experienced good levels of demand across the UK throughout 2014, with a return to a more traditional seasonal pattern to customer activity and we sold well right through to the end of the autumn season. The value of our forward sales at 31 December 2014 of c. £973m (2013: £908m) was 7% ahead of the prior year and provides strong momentum for the business moving into the new year.

As indicated in our Interim Management Statement on 4 November 2014 we remain confident of a further improvement in operating margins for the second half of the year which will underpin significant growth in pre-tax profits and excellent cash generation for the year ended 31 December 2014.

In line with the Group's long term strategy, during the year we identified a number of excellent opportunities for disciplined reinvestment in new sites in good locations which will generate superior returns and cashflow over the coming years. We were successful in acquiring c. 26,800 plots of new land over 156 sites with good deferred terms. Over 8,600 plots were converted from our strategic land bank embedding further excellent value in the consented land bank. Our management teams across the country remain focussed on starting construction on all our development sites at the earliest opportunity to fulfil the demands of the market and to maximise the Group's returns.

The Group held cash balances of c. £378m at 31 December 2014 (2013: £204m).

We will give a further update on our assessment of the housing market over the early weeks of 2015 when we announce our results for the year ended 31 December 2014 on Tuesday 24 February 2015.

Ex-divi 20th Mar 2015 (95p)

Trading Update

THURSDAY 2 JULY 2015

Persimmon plc announces the following update ahead of its Half Year Results to 30 June 2015, which will be released on Tuesday 18 August 2015.

The Group has traded well through the first half of 2015. Customer sentiment remained resilient through the period running up to the General Election on 7 May and confidence has improved subsequently. New home legal completion volumes increased by 7% to 6,855 units (2014: 6,408) and total revenues increased by 12% to £1.34 bn (2014: £1.20 bn). Visitor numbers to our sites across the UK have been in line with the prior year and cancellation rates have remained at low levels.

Customer demand has been supported by an increasingly competitive mortgage market over the last six months, together with continued growth in employment and some welcome improvement in disposable incomes. The opportunity to buy a newly built home remains compelling. The average selling price for the Group increased by 4% to c. £195,000 (2014: £186,970).

For the first half of the year the Group's weekly rate of sale into the private sale market was 11% ahead of the prior year. At 30 June forward sales volumes into the private sale market were 12% ahead of last year at 4,606 new homes with an average selling price of c. £213,000, 4% ahead of last year. Total forward sales value at 30 June increased by 15% to £1.36 bn (2014: £1.18 bn).

We successfully opened 122 new sites in the first half of the year despite experiencing a slow-down in the planning application process in the period running up to the General Election. As a result our outlet network at 30 June of 395 active sites was c. 5% stronger than at the start of the year. We continue to actively develop all sites where we have an implementable detailed planning consent and plan to open a further c.125 new sites during the second half of the year.

The land market continues to provide attractive opportunities for investment to support the future growth of the business. We have acquired c. 11,500 new plots of land across the UK during the first half and our consented land bank at 30 June totalled c. 92,400 plots. We continue to take advantage of profitable opportunities to strengthen the land platform for the future development of the business.

The third payment of our Capital Return Plan of £291 million, or 95p per share, was accelerated and paid on 2 April 2015 in line with the long term strategic plan adopted by management. The Group's total free net cash inflow before capital return in the first half of the year was c. £191 million (2014: £122 million). Due to this strong liquidity cash holdings at 30 June were c. £278 million ( 30 June 2014: £326 million).

We will announce our Half Year Results on Tuesday 18 August 2015 and will provide further details at that time.

Half Year Results

Highlights

· Profit before tax increased 31% to £272.8m (2014: £208.9m)
· Revenue up 11% to £1.33bn (2014: £1.20bn)
· Legal completions increased 7% to 6,855 new homes sold (2014: 6,408), average selling price increased 4% to £194,378 (2014: £186,970)
· Further expansion of underlying operating margin* to 20.5% (2014: 17.7%), an increase of 280bps
· Return on average capital employed** increased by 27% to 27.5% (2014: 21.7%)
· Strong land investment with 11,539 plots of land secured in the period bringing consented land bank to 92,404 plots
· Continued success in securing planning consent for the Group's strategic land bank with 2,974 plots converted in the period
· Net free cash generation*** of £191m in the period (2014: £122m)
· Net cash of £278m at 30 June 2015 (2014: £326m)
· Underlying basic earnings per share* increased 43% to 78.6p (2014: 54.8p)
· Current forward sales 12% ahead at over £1.71bn (2014: £1.53bn)
· Third payment of surplus capital under the Capital Return Plan of £291m (95p per share) paid 2 April 2015
* stated before goodwill impairment
** 12 month rolling average stated before goodwill impairment
*** net free cash generation stated before Capital Return Plan payments

Aug 18:
Numis: Reduce - TP: - 1850p
Davy Research: Underperform - TP: N/A
JP Morgan: Neutral - N/A

property prices to flat line, so to psn you have had the gifts, Cap gain ?
not fore some time. BB

Positive trading statement http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5145724

PSN is in good company in having its sp squashed in recent days

i understand the argument that stock prices are now fully valued or even frothy, but there's no question that an awful lot of extra houses really are needed (nimby pleeease!), so i'ld have thought now might be a good time to add rather than sell ..... and a little dabble in MBH would not be rash either

StockMarketWire.com
Persimmon said 2015 was another year of strong growth for the Group, with legal completions increasing by 8% to 14,572 new homes, from 13,509 a year ago.

Further improvements to the company's build programmes supported the delivery of its strong carried forward sales at the mid-year stage, together with healthy sales taken through the autumn season.

Its H2 volumes of 7,717 legal completions were 13% stronger than the first half (H1: 6,855). The two new businesses opened during 2015 have made a solid start to trading, with Central delivering 160 new homes and Teesside 310 new homes during the year.

Revenues for 2015 of £2.9bn were 13% higher than the prior year (2014: £2.6bn), the Group's average selling price having increased by 4.5% to c. £199,100 (2014: £190,533).

The value of Persimmon's forward sales at 31 December 2015 of c. £1,100m is 13% ahead of the prior year (2014: £973m).

This provides a strong platform for the Group to continue to execute its long term strategy, which includes growing the business to take advantage of sustainable market opportunities.

A further two new businesses based at Launceston in Cornwall and Perth in Scotland commenced trading on 4 January 2016 and will support this disciplined growth.

During 2015, Persimmon opened over 250 new development sites across the UK. The improved land recoveries on legal completions from these new sites, and strong control over costs, will result in a further increase in operating margins for the second half of the year as reported in November's trading update.

The Group's expansion in output, together with improved operating profitability, will produce substantial growth in pre-tax profits and excellent cash generation for the year ended 31 December 2015. The Group's liquidity remains strong. The Group has continued to identify compelling reinvestment opportunities in the land market which will deliver strong returns and cashflows over future years.

It acquired c. 20,500 plots of new land over 123 sites with good deferred terms during the year. The consistent application of the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework is supporting improvements in land release for development and the additional initiatives recently announced in the Autumn Statement should help further.

The Group has an exciting pipeline of opportunities emerging from its strategic land portfolio and Persimmon remains well placed to realise its disciplined growth plans as part of the execution of its long term strategy.

The Group held cash balances of c. £570m at 31 December 2015 (2014: £378m).

Persimmon also noted that Nigel Greenaway, South Division Chief Executive has decided to retire from the Board after the conclusion of the Company's AGM on 14 April 2016. It also announced that David Jenkinson will be promoted to Group Managing Director with immediate effect, with responsibility for Group businesses and reporting directly to the Group Chief Executive, Jeff Fairburn.

Persimmon hikes underlying FY pretax profit

StockMarketWire.com

Persimmon has hiked its underlying FY pretax profit by 34% to GBP637.8m, from GBP475.0m. Revenue was up 13% to GBP2.9bn, from GBP2.6bn. It described the performance as outstanding.

Chairman Nicholas Wrigley said:

"It is now four years since we launched our long term strategy focused on growing Persimmon into a stronger, larger business while maintaining capital discipline and delivering robust free cash generation.

"The Group's ability to grow completion volumes by more than 55% through this period while simultaneously returning �733m of excess capital to shareholders underlines the strength of its operating model.

"Customer activity in the early weeks of the 2016 spring season has been encouraging and today's further �860m enhancement to the Capital Return Plan to a total of �9.00 per share is a measure of the Board's confidence in the Group's future progress."

HIGHLIGHTS

" Legal completions increased by 8% to 14,572 (2014: 13,509) and average selling price increased 4.5% to �199,127 (2014: �190,533)

" Operating margin increased to 21.9% (2014: 18.4%); with second half improvement to 23.0%

" 24% increase in cash generation pre capital returns to �483m (2014: �388m)

" Return on average capital employed* increased by 30% to 32.1% (2014: 24.6%)

" A further 20,501 plots of land acquired in the year, with 6,739 plots successfully converted from the Group's strategic land portfolio

" Underlying basic earnings per share increased by 39% to 173.0p (2014: 124.5p)

" Net cash of �570.4m at 31 December 2015 (2014: �378.4m)

" Forward sales ahead at �1.68bn (2015: �1.49bn), an increase of 12%

JP Morgan Cazenove today upgrades its investment rating on Persimmon PLC (LON:PSN) to overweight (from underweight) and cut its price target to 1950p (from 2100p).

StockMarketWire.com
Persimmon has hiked its H1 pretax profit by 29% to £352.3m, from £272.8m, the robust performance driven by a clear focus on meeting market demand.

Revenue was up 12% to £1.49bn, from£1.33bn. Legal completions rose 6% to 7238 new homes sold, from 6855. Average selling price was up 6% to £205,762.

"Persimmon's robust trading performance in the first half of 2016 was driven by our continued focus on meeting market demand to deliver controlled sustainable growth," said CEO Jeff Fairburn in a statement.

"The Group's strong cash generation has supported further disciplined land investment embedding value for the future," he said.

"While the result of the EU Referendum has created increased economic uncertainty, customer interest since then has been robust with visitor numbers to our sites around 20% ahead year on year.

"Our private sale reservation rate since 1 July is currently 17% ahead of the same period last year. The Group is now trading through the traditionally slower summer weeks but customer demand remains encouraging and we anticipate a good autumn sales season.

"We are confident that our long term strategic focus will continue to deliver strong returns for our shareholders."

HIGHLIGHTS:
- Further expansion of underlying operating margin* to 23.8% (2015: 20.5%), an increase of 330bps

- Return on average capital employed increased by 29% to 35.6% (2015: 27.5%)

- 7,108 plots of new land secured in the period bringing consented land bank to 93,519 plots

- Continued success in securing planning consent for the Group's strategic land bank with 2,856 plots converted in the period, 40% of the new plots acquired in the period

- Net free cash generation of £229.9m in the period (2015: £190.7m)

- Net cash of £462.0m at 30 June 2016 (2015: £278.0m)

- Basic earnings per share increased 19% to 92.0p (2015: 77.3p)

- Current forward sales 2% ahead at £1.75bn (2015: £1.71bn)

- Fourth payment of surplus capital under the Capital Return Plan of £338.3m (110p per share) paid 1 April 2016.

StockMarketWire.com
Persimmon said trading over the summer weeks immediately following the UK's non-binding referendum to quit the EU was encouraging, with the number of customers visiting our sites remaining well ahead of last year.

"Thereafter, with the start of the autumn selling season, customer activity strengthened in line with the traditional seasonality of the market," the company said in a trading update for the period July 1 to Nov. 1.

"Our private sales rate in the period since we reported our half year results on 23 August 2016 has been 19% ahead of last year, representing a continuation of the stronger sales rate experienced through the summer weeks.

"We are now fully sold up for the current year and have c. £757 million of forward sales reserved beyond 2016, an increase of 4% on the same point last year (2015: £726 million).

"The market has continued to benefit from resilient consumer confidence and strong lender support. The reduction in the bank base rate in August has resulted in more attractive mortgage products further supporting affordability.

"Mortgage interest rates remain compelling, especially for first time buyers utilising the Help to Buy shared equity scheme. Pricing remains firm across our regional markets."

Going like a train today

Persimmon plc announces the following update ahead of its Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2016, which will be released on 27 February 2017.

Revenues for 2016 of £3.14bn were 8% higher than the prior year (2015: £2.90bn) with legal completion volumes increasing by 599 new homes to 15,171 (2015: 14,572). The Group's average selling price increased by 4% to c. £206,700 (2015: £199,127).

Sales reservations through the autumn season were strong with healthy customer demand for new homes. Buying a new-build home remains a compelling choice supported by competitive mortgage offers which continue to make a new home purchase very affordable. The Group's private sales rate for the second half of the year was 15% ahead of the prior year and second half legal completion volumes of 7,933 were 695 stronger than for the first half of the year (H1: 7,238).

We have continued to focus on disciplined high quality growth to achieve sustainable market share in our regional markets. The two new house building businesses we opened at the start of 2016 based in Perth, Scotland and Launceston, Cornwall have made good progress delivering over 650 new homes in their first year of operation. On 2 January 2017 we launched a further new business based in Mansfield, north of Nottingham, to support the delivery of increased volumes of new homes in this regional market. The value of our forward sales at 31 December 2016 of c. £1,230m is 12% ahead of the prior year (2015: £1,103m).

The Group successfully opened 255 new development sites across the UK during the year and is building on all sites which have an implementable planning consent. We expect our gross margin in the second half will have improved further due to a combination of the continued reduction in our land cost recoveries associated with opening new sites, and the continued strong control over development costs.

During the year we acquired c. 18,700 plots of new land in 83 locations with good deferred terms. We continue to see good opportunities to acquire additional land whilst remaining mindful of the risks associated with the uncertainty arising from the UK's decision to leave the EU. We continue to work hard to bring forward opportunities from the Group's strategic land portfolio which will add to the quality of the Group's asset platform. We expect local authorities to continue to progress their plans to support growth in housing delivery in line with the National Planning Policy Framework.

The Group held cash balances of c. £913m at 31 December 2016 (2015: £570m).

Trading update.

Housebuilder Persimmon put together an excellent foundation to its financial year, reporting resilient consumer confidence and strong momentum moving into the second half. The FTSE 100 group expanded revenues 12% to £1.66bn as the volume of new homes sold grew 8% to 7,794 and it was able to hoist average selling prices 3.5% to £213,000.

StockMarketWire.com
House building company Persimmon said three of its executives had decided to cut the size of their long-term incentive payments.

Chief executive Jeff Fairburn and chief financial officer Mike Killoran decided to reduce their overall entitlement by a number of shares equal to 50% of their entitlement.

They had also decided to extend until 2021 the holding period of certain entitlements.

Managing director Dave Jenkinson, meanwhile, decided to reduce his overall entitlement by 50% of the shares subject to awards granted to him since being promoted to the board.

'These decisions by the executives have been welcomed and fully supported by the remuneration committee, which has also noted Jeff Fairburn's intention to donate a substantial proportion of his total reward to charity,' Persimmon said.

I sold my shares back in December for a good profit, when the original news about how damaging the long-term incentive payments were going to be for the company. I don't know if the 50% is going to be enough...... The news from the company is otherwise positive ahead of the final results for 2017 due out next week.

For me the jury is still out if this is a good investment or not, even long term

Well I did not expect this - up 11% so far this morning 270p. Not worth getting into, as that is the proposed dividend "spent".

I guess by giving out such good results, it drowned out the Chairman's resignation!

Psn going well. Had April div and it's still climbing
Got another 110p div to come June.
Nice little earner rodney.

As announced on 27 February 2018, additional payments under the Plan of 125p per share will be paid over the next three years in late March/early April each year. The first of these additional payments of £389 million, was paid to shareholders as an interim dividend on 29 March 2018. At the same time the Board recommended that the scheduled return of 110p per share, or c. £345 million, will be paid to shareholders on 2 July 2018 as a final dividend. With the scheduled payment on 2 July 2018, the total value of the capital returned by that date of £2.22 billion will be £1.36 billion greater than that originally planned at launch in 2012.

 

The additional payments over the next three years will bring the total value of the Plan to £13.00 per share, more than double the £6.20 per share original commitment made by the Board in 2012. The total value of the Plan is now c. £4.07 billion.

 

Total shareholder returns to date from the launch of the Group's new strategy in 2012 now exceed 500%.

 

The Board remains confident of the future prospects of the Group.  

 

We will provide a further report in our Trading Update on Thursday 5 July 2018.

 

 

CEO resigns https://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6197516

After the TV interview he refused to do on his pay it was the only solution. The issue was never going to go away no matter how much his comms team were going to try and shut it down.

Soooo glad i sold out at £28 instead
of taking the dividend.

that was back in june ..... but of course if you had re-bought in late october, you would be rubbing your hands gleefully

Housebuilder Persimmon said it expected 2018 pre-tax profits to be modestly ahead of current market consensus, having benefited from new developments opened through the year. Total group revenues of £3.74bn were 4% higher as new housing revenues increased by 4% to £3.55bn and legal completion volumes increased by 406 new homes to 16,449 against 16,043 in 2017.