3 March 2021 | 07:22am
StockMarketWire.com - House builder Persimmon reported a 25% fall in annual profit and slashed its dividend, after construction markets were battered by the pandemic.
Pre-tax profit for the year through December dropped to £783.8 million, down from £1.04 billion year-on-year.
Revenue fell 8.8% to £3.33 billion after a 14% slide in home completions to 13,575 was partly offset by a 6.9% rise in the average home selling price to £230,534.
Persimmon declared a full-year dividend of 110p per share, less than half the 235p it paid for 2019.
On a brighter note, it said it was committed to a total payout of 235p per share in 2021, subject to continual board review.
3 March 2021 | 08:42am
StockMarketWire.com - UK stocks opened more than 1% higher on Wednesday as progress on Covid vaccines and US stimulus continued to fuel hopes the global economy was on the mend.
At 0825, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 70.78 points, or 1.1%, at 6,684.62.
Insurance company Hiscox tumbled 13% to 856.79p after it swung to a $268.5 million annual pre-tax loss, driven by event cancellation and business interruption claims owing to the pandemic.
Hiscox said it decided not to declare a final dividend, but would consider resuming payments in 2021 when it published interim results.
House builder Persimmon rose 0.3% to £27.17, even as it reported a 25% fall in annual profit and slashed its dividend to 110p per share, after construction markets were battered by the pandemic.
10 February 2021 | 12:00pm
StockMarketWire.com - The FTSE 100 made steady gains on Wednesday, up 0.3% to 6,548.39 by midday supported by strength in the mining sector as investors looked towards a recovery from the pandemic.
Sentiment was also supported by the new record highs marked by US and Asian stocks overnight.
Housebuilder Persimmon dipped 0.3% to £27.74 after it identified unsafe cladding materials in high-rise buildings and flagged a £75 million charge to pay for replacement work.
Persimmon s review comes in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017, which saw a high-rise residential building catch fire, killing 72 people.
Permission had found 26 buildings that it had developed that may need work.
Sales levels over recent weeks have subsided slightly with the number of currently active sales outlets down 14% after the strong uptake of properties.