Persimmon Plc (LON:PSN) has provided an update on trading for the period from 1 July 2025.
Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive, commented:
“Persimmon has performed well during 2025, in a challenging market, with increased sales rates, more sales outlets, and robust pricing. This demonstrates the benefit of the investment made in the business in recent years. Our forward sales are up 15% and we remain on track to deliver our 2025 performance in line with market expectations1.
“While we are mindful of the current macroeconomic environment and the short-term challenges facing our industry, we are confident in the underlying strength of the market over the medium term. Leveraging our differentiated platform, including our investment in land, continued success on securing planning consents, vertical integration and our commitment to quality and customer service, we are investing to position the business for future success.”
Highlights
| 2025 | 2024 | Change | |
| Net private sales per outlet per week2 | 0.76 | 0.70 | +9% |
| Current forward sales3 | £2.79bn | £2.42bn | +15% |
| Of which private forward sales3 | £2.09bn | £1.82bn | +15% |
| Average sales outlets4 | 272 | 262 | +4% |
| Land holdings (plots owned and under control) at 30 September | c.83,800 | c.81,500 | +3% |
1Company compiled full year 2025 consensus at 3 November was 11,293 homes and underlying profit before tax of £429m.
2Net private sales rate per outlet per week for the period since 1 July to 2 November 2025 (3 November 2024). Excluding bulk sales 0.63 (2024: 0.61).
3Current forward sales, including legal completions since 1 July, is stated as at 2 November 2025 for 2025 and as at 3 November 2024 for 2024
4For the period since 1 July to 2 November 2025 (3 November 2024)
Trading
The Group traded in line with expectations during the period.
Our current private forward sales position has increased 15% to £2.09bn. We are well positioned to achieve our planned growth in 2025, with 83% of this year’s expected private delivery already exchanged or completed (2024: 85%).
Our sales rate increased to 0.76 net private sales per outlet per week, or 0.63 when excluding bulk sales, representing an increase of 3% on the prior year (2024: 0.61). On a total sales per week basis, this equates to growth of 14% to 208 sales per week (2024: 183), reflecting the benefits of our expanding outlet base and broad geographic coverage across the UK.
This progress has been achieved despite some softening in the market since the summer, with consumer confidence affected by ongoing uncertainties including the upcoming Government budget.
The private average selling price in the forward order book has remained robust at c.£295,150 (30 June 2025: £291,514) and is up 1.5% on the position at the same point last year, with total incentives remaining at around 4-5% on average.
Affordability and value remain key for our customers, and our core Persimmon brand continues to perform well as a result of its broad geographic reach and strong value proposition. Responding to the affordability challenge, during the period we launched our second shared equity product, Rezide, which complements the New Build Boost product launched earlier this year. Our premium Charles Church brand also continues to perform well, following its successful relaunch earlier this year.
Land spend in the third quarter was £127m (2024: £123m) of which £46m related to the settlement of land creditors (2024: £47m). This brings our total land spend in the year to £336m (2024: £318m). Our owned and under control land holdings stood at c.83,800 plots at 30 September 2025 (30 September 2024: c.81,500). Alongside land investment and an increase in our strategic land capabilities, we continue to have good planning success with 7,753 plots achieving detailed or reserved matters approval in the year to 30 September (2024: 7,175), supporting our outlet and volume growth ambitions. We opened 16 new outlets in the period, including 7 new Charles Church sites as we continue to target doubling the scale of this business compared to 2024’s level. We operated from an average of 272 outlets, up 4% on the prior year (2024: 262).
We continue to anticipate a cash balance of between £0m and £200m at the end of the current financial year. As previously stated, we expect to continue our investment in our future capabilities during 2026, utilising our strong financial position, which will increase our financing costs in the short term. We continue to make good progress with our fire safety remediation commitment and continue to expect that the bulk of works will be completed over the course of the next two years.
Outlook
We are pleased with our 2025 performance so far, in challenging market conditions. The investment made in the business over recent years has positioned us well, allowing us to operate from a growing outlet base and to deliver an improved sales rate. We are on track to deliver our 2025 performance in line with market expectations.
We remain mindful of affordability constraints and the potential impact the upcoming Government budget might have on our private customers and on our institutional build-to-rent and affordable housing partners. Our market fundamentals remain strong and we are confident the business will increase margins, returns and shareholder value, as previously outlined, over the medium term.
Our next update is due on 13 January 2026 with our full year 2025 Trading Update.
Persimmon will host a conference call with analysts at 09.00am today. All participants must pre-register to join this conference using the Participant Registration link. Once registered, an email will be sent with important details for this conference, as well as a unique Registrant ID.
Participant registration page: https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIa2e2cfa792fc4732b38f1b8c8bc59c19
