Persimmon plc announces the following update ahead of its Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2018, which will be released on 26 February 2019.
Persimmon has delivered another strong trading performance, with continued disciplined growth in 2018 in line with the Group's strategy. Total Group revenues of £3.74bn were 4% higher than the prior year (2017: £3.60bn). New housing revenues increased by 4% to £3.55bn (2017: £3.42bn). Legal completion volumes increased by 406 new homes, a 3% increase, to 16,449 (2017: 16,043), including private sales of 13,341 new homes (2017: 13,274). Our average selling price of c. £215,560 was 1% higher than last year (2017: £213,321). The UK housing market has continued to benefit from robust employment levels, low interest rates and a competitive mortgage market, which have supported confidence and customer demand across the regions.
Persimmon remains committed to increasing new home construction to meet market demand and has made a significant contribution to increasing UK housing supply since the launch of the Group's new strategy in 2012. Over this period we have opened 1,370 new selling outlets and delivered 97,175 new homes to the market, increasing our annual production by over 75%. The Group now has 31 house building businesses across the UK, having opened seven new businesses over the last four years. The Group opened a new operating business based near Ipswich in Suffolk on 2 January 2018 which has made good progress, delivering 348 new homes in 2018. Additionally, on 2 January 2019, we opened a new business based at Harworth, near Doncaster, which will support our growth across the Yorkshire region. The Group is seeking to identify similar regional expansion opportunities and will continue to invest in both its infrastructure and people to support further growth.
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