Persimmon slips as it apologises for TV show’s home truths
Shares in Persimmon, Britain’s second-largest housebuilder, slipped as investors’ nerves jangled ahead of an investigation into the quality of its homes due to be shown last night.
The builder apologised “without reservation” at the weekend to homebuyers in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, which detailed problems with quality control and safety.
Persimmon blamed actions taken to improve customer satisfaction for a 4.5pc slump in revenues in its half-year results earlier this month.
The company is no stranger to controversy – Jeff Fairburn was ousted as its chief executive last year after telling a BBC reporter of his displeasure at being asked about his £75m bonus. Shares fell 57.5p to £19.32.
Other housebuilders were among the FTSE’S biggest fallers after data from Rightmove showed the first monthly fall in UK house prices in 2019. The average price of a home coming to market edged 0.2pc lower in June. Larger homes were hit harder as prices for newly listed homes with four or more bedrooms dipped 1.1pc.
“The housing market fundamentals remain largely sound in many parts of the country, but the current political climate means that the crucial
ingredient of confidence has been impaired, and that is causing some potential buyers and sellers to hesitate,” said Miles Shipside, housing market analyst at Rightmove.
Berkeley shed 24p to £38.20 and Barratt
Developments, the UK’S biggest homebuilder, surrendered 1.6p to 625.4p. Shares in Taylor Wimpey slipped 0.6p to end at 163.5p.
Despite the construction companies’ struggles, the FTSE 100 ended 25.75 points, or 0.34pc, higher to 7,531.72.
Miners, which have an outsized effect on the index due to their high valuations, were among the biggest risers. Evraz added 15.2p to close at 633.4p, Fresnillo and Anglo American added 18p and 32p respectively, to 897.4p and £21.84. Glencore gained 2.5p to 268.8p while Rio Tinto rose 59.5p to £48.68. Antofagasta enjoyed an additional surge on the back of a $6bn (£4.8bn) damages award from the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes after a seven-year legal battle with the government of Pakistan. The shares added 34.6p, or 4pc, to close at 897.6p.
Further afield, Asian markets rebounded after official figures from China revealed the world’s second-largest economy had expanded at its slowest rate in 27 years in the second quarter. Growth slowed to 6.2pc but was in line with expectations. The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.4pc while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.29pc.