1 May 2025      

AGM Trading Statement

Persimmon Plc is today providing an update on trading for the period from 1 January 2025 to 27 April 2025, ahead of its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") which is being held at 11.00am today in York.

Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive, commented:

"Persimmon has started the year well, building on our strong performance in 2024 with an improved private sales rate, an increase in average selling prices and further growth in our network of outlets. As a result, our private forward sales are up 17% on the prior year. We have continued our investment in new land and achieved further planning success in the period.

We have seen no immediate impact on the business or on customer confidence from the recent geopolitical uncertainty. Consequently, at this stage we remain on track to deliver further growth in completions to between 11,000 and 11,500 for the full year, providing the UK housing market remains stable."

Highlights

¹Net private sales per outlet per week excluding bulk sales of 0.65 (2024: 0.63)

²Current forward sales, including year to date legal completions, is stated as at 27 April 2025 for 2025 and as at 28 April 2024 for 2024

³As at 27 April 2025 for 2025 and as at 28 April 2024 for 2024

Trading

The Group has traded well since the start of the year, in line with the Board's expectations. The positive momentum seen in the first nine weeks of the year has continued throughout the period and the net private sales rate per outlet per week excluding bulk sales was up 3% to 0.65 (2024: 0.63).

Customer interest remains strong across the country. Our marketing campaigns are generating healthy traffic to sites and online, and we are pleased to have launched "New Build Boost" in March, which allows customers to purchase a new home with a 15% interest-free equity loan. Although the scheme is in its early stages, we have had good interest, and it is already assisting our customers in addressing affordability challenges. Customer service continues to be an important area of focus, with our 5-star homebuilder status retained.

Our private forward sales have increased by 17% to £1.68bn with a private average selling price of c.£293,300, up 4% on the position at the same point last year. Overall pricing on reservations continues to be robust, with total incentives currently running around 4% on average.

We continue to have good planning success with 2,781 plots achieving detailed or reserved matters approval in the first quarter (2024: 1,457), supporting our outlet growth ambition. We are encouraged by the Government's planning reforms, including the NPPF and the measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill published earlier this year. These will provide further momentum to the business in the coming years. We opened 27 new outlets in the period and are currently operating from 275 outlets, up 5% on the prior year (2024: 262). We continue to expect to open around 100 gross outlets during 2025 as we progress towards our target of operating from at least 300 outlets.

Gross land spend in the first three months of the year was £128m (2024: £145m) of which £76m related to the settlement of land creditors (2024: £96m). Our owned and under control land holdings stood at c.83,800 plots at 31 March 2025 (2024: c.82,500 plots).

Outlook

We are pleased with our 2025 performance so far and continue to expect weighting of delivery to be similar to 2024. 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 improved sales rates.

We have not yet seen any impact of the heightened macroeconomic uncertainty on either our supply chain or our sales rates. Persimmon does not trade directly with the US market and consequently has no direct exposure to the recently announced tariffs. At this stage, the indirect impact is expected to be limited. However, we are mindful of the current economic uncertainties and the impact that these may have on mortgage rates and consumer spending. Nevertheless, at this stage we believe we remain on track to deliver growth in full year 2025 completions, to between 11,000 and 11,500 homes, with over half of our private homes and almost all of our housing association homes already secured.

Our market fundamentals remain strong and we are confident the business will increase margins, returns and shareholder value over the medium term.

For further information please contact:

Appendix:

Current forward sales, including year to date legal completions, is stated as at 27 April 2025 for 2025 figure and as at 28 April 2024 for 2024 figure.

Cautionary statements

Some of the information in this document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Persimmon Plc and its subsidiaries (the Group). You can identify forward-looking statements by the terms such as "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "will", "could", "may" or "might", the negative of such terms or similar expressions. Persimmon Plc (the Company) wishes to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially and as such undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. The Company does not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of the Group, including among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment as well as many other risks specifically related to the Group and its operations. Past performance of the Group cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.

Please see the most recent Annual Report and Accounts of Persimmon plc and other disclosures through the Regulatory News Service ("RNS") for further details of risks, uncertainties and other factors relevant to the business and its securities.

The information in this trading statement is unaudited.