Persimmon noted the number of completed sales fell by 15% over the course of 2020 in their latest financial results.
Persimmon noted the number of completed sales fell by 15% over the course of 2020 in their latest financial results.
Looking to the housebuilders' full year results, Persimmon saw operating profits of £863m during 2020, 2% above expectations.
It has also revealed the return of the special dividend; the company will pay out a total of £2.35 per share over the course of 2021.
This will be divided into three instalments, with the first 125p to be paid at the end of March.
Furthermore, the company ended the year with £1.2bn of cash, nearly £400m higher than the pre-pandemic figures.
This is despite the housebuilder paying £350m of dividends in 2020, and spending a further £325m on land.
In relation to these figures, Oliver Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot, said: “We are particularly impressed that the company was able to generate these returns in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since July 2020, build rates were maintained at pre-COVID levels, even throughout the November lockdown.
“Construction across the sector was impacted less than first feared by the pandemic, but we believe that Persimmon fared even better than peers – with completed sales down only 15% year-on-year.
“The business’s outlook is similarly positive, H1’21 volumes to be in-line with H1’19 and with an expected return to FY-19 volumes in 2022.
“While it hasn’t been explicitly mentioned, we would also expect the high dividend pay-outs to continue as well in 2022 and potentially beyond.”
