British housebuilder Persimmon said it would restore its dividend and unveiled a write-back of £70.7 million today after swinging to a profit in the first half.
The York-based builder reported an underlying pretax profit of £39.4 million compared with a loss £16.7 million last year.
"We expect annual volume growth of new home sales to continue to be steady in line with any general improvement in the economy," Persimmon said in a statement.
Persimmon, which signed a joint-venture with property regeneration company St Modwen Properties, unveiled a write-back of £70.7 million, compared with £27.9 million last year.
Smaller rival Bovis Homes, which announced its intention to restore its dividend in July, said yesterday that sales rate have held up during the key summer period.
Persimmon said previously that completions rose 16 per cent in the six month period year-on-year to 4,657 homes, with the average selling price rising by 8 per cent to £168,500.
Both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and mortgage lender Nationwide reported seasonally adjusted falls in selling prices last month.
This, alongside retail sales growth slowing, is raising concerns that the recovery may be losing momentum.
Confidence in the economy has taken a sharp knock since Britain's coalition government revealed plans to slash spending by as much as a quarter to bring ballooning national debt under control.
Shares in Persimmon closed at 346.6 pence yesterday, after dropping to a near 15-month low, valuing the company at £1.02 billion.
Reuters