Sharecast - In an update for the period from 1 January to the end of March, the housebuilder said new home completions slid 42% from the same period a year earlier to 1,136. Meanwhile, net private sales per outlet declined 37% to 0.62, although this was higher than 0.30 in the final quarter of last year.
Chief executive Dean Finch said: "Our performance in the first quarter was as we expected and reflects the challenging trading conditions in Q4 2022 and consequent lower forward order book as we entered the year.
"Trading over recent weeks has offered some signs of encouragement with visitor numbers up, cancellation levels normalising and sales rates continuing the steady improvement evident since the start of the year. If sales rates continue at the levels seen year to date, we would expect full year 2023 volumes to be toward the top end of the previously indicated range of 8,000 to 9,000 completions."
Persimmon (LON:PSN) said overall pricing remained firm in the first quarter, with the group’s private average selling price on completions up 10% on the same quarter a year earlier and 4% higher than the final quarter of last year.