Persimmon plc
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Persimmon plc is the largest British housebuilding company by market capitalisation. It is headquartered in York, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It is named after a horse which won the 1896 Derby and St. Leger for the Prince of Wales.
Persimmon was established by Duncan Davidson in 1972 and acquired a full stock exchange listing in 1985. In 2001 it acquired Beazer Group, which was then the largest housebuilder in the UK. Persimmon only operates in the UK. It builds at a wide range of price levels, and owns Charles Church, which is a well known builder of high end executive houses.
In 2003 independent research company Mori conducted a customer survey in which Persimmon scored no better than average in all categories and below average for their after care. This was followed in 2004 by an investigation from the BBC's Watchdog after it received over 450 complaints.
Persimmon's turnover for the year to 31 December 2005 was £2,285.7 million. Profits were £495.4 million before tax and £344.8 million after tax.
In January 2006 Persimmon acquired Westbury plc, another listed UK housebuilder, for consideration of £643 million. Following changes to its Board in April 2006 the company is headed by Executive Chairman, John White, Chief Executive, Michael Farley, Finance Director, Mike Killoran and Group Development Director, David Bryant.
