Housebuilder says visitor rates have been rising since start of year but market remains challenging

Persimmon has said it remains cautious despite posting results for 2007 that one analyst described as “no worse than feared”.

In the year ended 31 December 2007, pre-tax profit was 3% up at £582.7m on a 4% drop in turnover to £3bn.

Completions were down 5% to 15,905 and average selling prices edged up from £188,129 to £189,558 in 2006.

Chairman John White said: “Persimmon has delivered an excellent set of results during what has been a very challenging year. When confidence returns and sentiment improves we anticipate a return to a stronger market; in the meantime we remain cautious.”

Operating margins increased from 20.3% to 21.7%, which the company said reflected the “strict discipline applied to all our costs”.

The negative customer reaction to the credit squeeze during the autumn now appears to be easing a little following recent interest rate reductions”.

Company statement

The company closed three offices in January.

The company’s order book to date in 2008 is £1bn, down from £1.3bn in 2007 but it said visitor levels have improved each week since the beginning of the year although conversion to sales has remained “challenging”.

The company said: “The negative customer reaction to the credit squeeze during the autumn now appears to be easing a little following recent interest rate reductions”.

The share price rose 14% to 777.5p at the news.

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