Persimmon (LON: PSN), the housebuilder, said completions rose 13% to 5,189 homes in the first half of 2026 and underlying operating profit climbed 10% to £189.1m, as the group gained market share in a difficult sales market.
Persimmon published its half-year results ahead of London’s market open. Shares closed at 1,123p on Wednesday, within a 52-week range of 947.40p to 1,496.52p. This morning, shares have risen to 1,160.3p, up 37.3p, or 3.32%, having traded in an intraday range of 1,125.93p to 1,170p, as investors weighed the profit growth and maintained guidance against the group’s 2027 cost-inflation caveat.
Statutory profit before tax rose 15% to £168.0m, while underlying pre-tax profit rose 3% to £170.1m. The interim dividend was held flat at 20p per share, payable in November. Persimmon maintained full-year guidance of around 12,500 completions and underlying pre-tax profit in line with a company-compiled consensus of £454m, even as it flagged weaker enquiries in July and a swing to £165m net debt, from £123m net cash a year earlier.
Underlying operating margin fell 30 basis points to 12.8%, even as completions and profit rose. Group chief executive Dean Finch said: “Persimmon delivered a strong first half performance, growing our market share, increasing completions by 13% and underlying operating profit by 10%. In a challenging market, this performance demonstrates the strength of our established strategy, product mix and geographic footprint, alongside the benefits of our lower cost operating model, sustained investment in the business and ongoing commitment to self-help. We remain on track to deliver growth in 2026 in line with market expectations.”
Persimmon also warned that build-cost inflation could cost £40m-£50m over the next 18 months heading into 2027, with only around half of that so far identified as offset through savings. That caveat tempers the medium-term margin outlook even as the current forward order book, at £1.31bn as of 2 August, stands 5% ahead of the same point last year.
The gap between today’s growth and the flagged 2027 cost pressure is the detail markets appear to be weighing, as profit growth and unchanged guidance outweighed the medium-term margin caveat in early trading.