The housebuilder delivered 10,664 homes in the year, up 7% of the prior year, with average selling prices 5% ahead at £268.5k.

Housing revenue increased 13% to £2.9 billion and underlying profit before tax 10% to £395 million, 3% above consensus.

Land holdings were flat at 82,084 plots and the group was selling from 270 outlets at the end of the year, 5% ahead of a year earlier. 

The sales rate since the start of the year is 0.67 per outlet per week, 14% ahead of the prior year, and selling prices are up 3% to £288k.

The company started 2025 with a stronger forward order book, which has continued to grow. In the first nine weeks, net private sales per outlet rose 14% year-on-year, while the private average selling price increased by 3% to £288,542. As a result, the private forward order book is now £1.15bn, up 27% from 2024.

With this momentum and an expected rise in affordable home deliveries, the company targets 11,000-11,500 completions in 2025, alongside profit growth, improved returns, and a stronger operating margin. While macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties remain, market fundamentals are solid, the firm said. Persimmon added that it is confident that its disciplined land investment and operational improvements will support long-term goals, including an operating margin and ROCE target of 20%.

Dean Finch, group chief executive, said: “Persimmon’s disciplined investment and significant operational improvements in recent years has created a stronger business. This is demonstrated by our growth in 2024, with completions, outlets and profit all up. The underlying market fundamentals remain strong and we are encouraged by the further improvement in our sales rates in the early weeks of this year. The government’s welcome planning reforms and pro-housebuilding agenda demands more of the high-quality, affordable homes which are Persimmon’s core strength, providing a positive tailwind. 

“With our strong platform in place, we are targeting further growth this year and are confident the business will grow margins, returns and shareholder value over the medium term.”

John Moore, senior investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin, added: “Persimmon has recovered from the worst of the tough trading period that began in 2023, with a solid performance last year and profits coming in around expectations. It’s worth noting, however, that these may have been helped by homebuyers pushing through purchases before the stamp duty rates changes in April.

“The challenge for the foreseeable remains stubbornly high material and labour costs – but, as the last set of construction PMI data showed, activity in the wider housebuilding sector is weak and there isn’t likely to be a deluge of supply hitting the market any time soon. The balancing act for Persimmon is delivering volume at the right margins; but that is something the company has done before and many would say it can do so again, with industry-leading scale and a large landbank acting as its foundation.”