21st Dec 2006 07:00
Persimmon PLC21 December 2006 TRADING UPDATE - THURSDAY 21 DECEMBER 2006 Persimmon plc announces the following trading update ahead of its PreliminaryResults to 31 December 2006, which will be announced on Monday 26 February 2007. 2006 has been another successful year for Persimmon. The integration of Westburywas swiftly achieved and the enlarged Group has performed very well whichreflects the continued hard work of all our employees and development partners.As previously stated, synergy savings have been accelerated and will be higherthan the £40 million per annum originally indicated for 2007 and beyond. Gearinghas been successfully managed and will reduce to c. 35% by the year end. We remain confident that further significant benefits from the Westburyacquisition will accrue in the future with the development of our affordablehousing business, Westbury Partnerships, and the successful pursuit of detailedplanning consents on a number of the ex-Westbury strategic land positions. We expect to have increased legal completions by c. 32% to c. 16,700 in the yearto 31 December 2006 (2005: 12,636). Sales revenue for the year will be c. £3.15billion, an increase of c. 38% over last year. We therefore expect to announce another record set of results, in line with theBoard's expectations. Whilst the market remains competitive, we have continued to sell at satisfactoryrates and forward sales into 2007 will be over £700 million (2006: £572million). We have also continued to acquire land at attractive prices and have atotal land bank of c. 78,000 plots. We are well placed to assist the Government in increasing the supply of newhomes and look forward to further constructive progress with regard to theimprovement of the planning system in the UK now the "Barker Review of Land UsePlanning" has been published. There is continuing confidence in the UK housing market and the new year andearly spring periods have historically produced an uplift in reservation rates.We are well placed to grow our business further in 2007 and beyond. For further information, please contact: Persimmon Plc Finsbury GroupMike Farley, Group Chief Executive Ed SimpkinsMike Killoran, Group Finance Director Kirsty FlockhartTel: 01904 642 199 Tel: 0207 251 3801 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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