LONDON (Reuters) - Persimmon (LONDON:PSN), Britain's biggest housebuilder by market value, said it expected demand for new homes to remain robust this year despite uncertainty caused by the election in May.
The company reported a 23 percent year-on-year rise in full-year revenue to 2.6 billion pounds ($4 billion) on Wednesday, slightly ahead of analyst estimates, as it built 17 percent more homes in 2014 than in the previous year.
"We're going into an election year, that does create a little bit of uncertainty but we anticipate to see good demand for the products we're producing," Chief Executive Jeff Fairburn told Reuters.
Housebuyers are typically cautious about making purchases around election time but Fairburn said the availability of attractive mortgage products and recent cuts to stamp duty payments for many were set to prop up demand this year.
Last month, Britain's finance minister cut a tax on nearly all property purchases, making home ownership easier especially for first-time buyers.
Persimmon had already forward sold 973 million pounds worth of new homes as of Dec. 31, 2014, 7 percent higher than the same time last year, providing a strong start to the financial year.
In 2014, Persimmon fulfilled 13,509 legal completions, with the average new home selling at a five percent premium over 2013 at 190,500 pounds.
The company's cash position at the end of the year stood at around 378 million pounds, paving the way for a 2014 dividend payment to shareholders, Fairburn said.
"The cash position at the end of the year puts us into a position to make a (dividend) payment this year," he said.
The company last year brought forward part of a planned 1.9 billion pound payout to shareholders which covers the period to 2021.
Shares in Persimmon traded up 0.4 percent at 1,534 pence at 0834 GMT. The company will disclose detailed full-year results on Feb. 24.
(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by Keith Weir)