[R]12:00AM New York - Persimmon Plc reported annual profit before tax increased 1% to £585.1 million from £582.1 million as average selling prices rose fractionally by 1% to £189,558.[/R]

Second Half Earnings Review

Persimmon Plc reported revenue in the six months ended December 31st fell to £1.50 billion from £1.59 billion in the year ago period as home completions plummeted to 7,903 from 8,475 a year earlier.

For the six months period, pre-tax profit fell to £304 million from £310.6 million in the six month period a year ago.

Operating profit during the review period fell to £342 million from £343.6 million in the same period a year ago.

Full-Year Earnings Review

Persimmon Plc reported annual turnover in the period ended December 31st slipped 4% to £3 billion from £3.1 billion in 2006.

For the year, profit before tax rose 1% from £582.1 million a year earlier to £585.1 million.

Operating profit for the period climbed to £657.3 million in 2007 from 652.7 million in 2006.

The company’s annual dividend rose 10% to 51.2 pence from 46.5 pence a year ago.

Revenue

North Division

In the North Division covering Yorkshire, North East and Scotland, plots owned and under control fell 3% from a year ago to 19,856 from 20,485. On the overall, the unit sales plunged 7% to 3,765 from 4,069 a year earlier.

Scotland remained resilient as prices grew on the year to £172,460.

Operations in East Yorkshire and Yorkshire will be merged to improve efficiency.

Forward sales were at £166.6 million at the end of 2007.

Central Division

The Central Division had strong growth for the year as average selling prices increased 4% to £178,278 from £171,161 a year ago.

Plots owned were flat 29,066 from 29,048. In the North West average prices rose 9% from a year ago to £181,013, followed by Eastern advancing 8% to £167,797.

During the year two offices in North West were merged to capture greater overhead efficiency.