Housebuilder Persimmon has revealed the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic has seen the number of homes it built in the first half of the year fall 35% to 4,900 compared with 7,584 a year earlier.
The business, which is headquartered in York and was founded by Northumberland businessman Duncan Davidson, said that as building sites shut and managers scrambled to implement social distancing measures, homes could not be completed.
As a result, pre-tax profits plunged 43% from £509.3m to £292.4m.
Revenues for the six months to June 30 were also down, to £1.19bn from £1.76bn a year earlier, and gross margins on new housing fell from 33.8% to 313%.
But the company said the lifting of restrictions and resumption of construction means building levels returned to pre-Covid levels by the end of June and its strong balance sheet meant staff were paid in full during lockdown.
It said the short term outlook is robust with a strong start to the second half and healthy level of forward orders, well supported by a strong work in progress position.
The new home average selling price has also jumped, from £216,942 to £225,066.
Chief executive Dave Jenkinson said the performance was enough for the board to agree to a 40p per share dividend being paid out.
He added: “Taking an early decision not to take advantage of the furlough scheme for any colleagues, we maintained good momentum in the business, continuing to serve our customers, making detailed preparations for a safe return to work and, when it was appropriate, restarting our build programmes efficiently.”
Sales of private homes since the start of July have jumped 49% year on year, with a current forward order book of £2.5 billion - up 21% on last year.
Mr Jenkinson explained: “Our strong opening work in progress position and excellent build rate through the summer give us confidence in a positive second half out-turn.
“We expect that by the end of September, we will have delivered (circa) 45% of our anticipated second half new home legal completions.
