RNS Number:0004T 
Persimmon PLC 
24 April 2008 
 
 
 
                                 AGM STATEMENT 
 
                            THURSDAY 24TH APRIL 2008 
 
 
 
Persimmon plc is holding its Annual General Meeting at 12 noon today at York 
Racecourse where the following comments will be made regarding current trading, 
financial performance and the outlook for the financial year.  This statement 
covers the period from 1st January 2008 to the date of this announcement and 
constitutes Persimmon plc's first Interim Management Statement as required by 
the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. 
 
When we announced our results for the year ended 31st December 2007 on 25th 
February 2008, we commented that purchasers were applying a "wait and see" 
approach to house purchases. 
 
During March, visitor levels to our sites were encouraging, although sales 
reservation volumes remained flat and cancellation rates continued at normal 
levels. 
 
However, over the last three weeks the unprecedented tightening in the mortgage 
market has caused a further deterioration of the housing market leading to lower 
sales volumes and increased cancellation rates.  At the same time the backdrop 
of extensively reported concerns about the global credit crisis have continued 
to undermine consumer confidence. 
 
As a result an increase in discounting, marketing costs and incentives are being 
utilised in the market to compete for the reduced level of demand and this is 
having a negative impact on margins.  Whilst we continue to focus on achieving 
the best possible selling price in every location it is likely that, with the 
continuation of current conditions, the market will become more challenging. 
 
Total sales revenue for 2008 is currently c. £1.37 billion compared to c. £1.80 
billion last year, a decrease of 24%.  Volumes are down less, by c. 18% due to 
an increase in the amount of partnership homes we are building. 
 
We welcome the recent Government actions being taken to increase liquidity in 
the banking system with the key objective of kick starting the mortgage market. 
For this action to be effective it needs to result in an increase in the 
availability of credit for house purchasers, particularly first time buyers.  We 
believe that the Government should urgently consider additional action to 
benefit first time buyers by increasing the threshold for stamp duty to support 
an improvement in activity and help those who are most in need of assistance. 
Further reductions in interest rates would also be helpful in supporting 
sentiment. 
 
Because of the uncertainties of the global economy and the UK lending 
environment it is difficult to predict when the market will improve.  We are 
therefore focusing on management of cash flows within the business to ensure 
that our balance sheet strength is maintained.  Close control of investments in 
work in progress, land, build costs and overheads are a priority for our 
experienced management teams.  We are currently operating off c. 5% more sites 
than a year ago.  Against the current backdrop we have postponed the 
commencement of scheduled new sites until the mortgage market improves.  At the 
end of March, our borrowings were £1.03 billion.  Our committed facilities which 
have an average term to maturity of over 3 years provides comfortable headroom 
for our seasonal peak debt requirements in April. 
 
Two years ago, in April 2006 John White became Chairman of the Group and at the 
same time Mike Farley was promoted to Group Chief Executive.  It was agreed by 
the Board that for a transitional period, in addition to fulfilling the normal 
role of Chairman, John would provide additional support to the Group as the 
significant acquisition of Westbury plc was integrated into the business.  With 
the integration period successfully completed John White will now continue as 
Group Chairman with the standard responsibilities that role implies. 
 
At some stage, in our view, housing market activity will improve given the 
underlying requirement for more housing and a "place to live" in the UK.  Given 
our strong financial position and scale we remain confident in the medium and 
long term prospects for Persimmon. 
 
 
 
For further information, please contact: 
 
Persimmon plc 
 
Tel: +44 1904 642 199 
 
John White, Group Chairman 
Mike Farley, Group Chief Executive 
Mike Killoran, Group Finance Director 
 
 
 
M:Communications 
 
Ed Orlebar: 
+44 (0)20 7153 1523 / +44 (0)7738 724 630 
orlebar@mcomgroup.com 
 
 
 
Charlotte McMullen: 
 
+44 (0)20 7153 1549 / +44 (0)7921 881 800 
mcmullen@mcomgroup.com 
 
 
 
 
                      This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
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