Persimmon, Gleeson and Forterra

“The FTSE 100 slipped into negative territory ahead of today's financial stability report from the Bank of England. Asian markets offered little overnight support as investors opted to take profits following the recent rally,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

House-builders have suffered in the wake of the Brexit vote but any uncertainty in the run-up to the referendum is not reflected in Persimmon’s first half figures which show sales and prices up 6%. The group had a good level of sales in May and June ahead of the EU vote with private sales up by about 1% against tough comparatives and market fundamentals remain strong with long-term unfulfilled demand. Persimmon was down by over 5% in early trading.

Urban regeneration and strategic land specialist MJ Gleeson was a strong early riser after a bullish update with full year results set to be at the top end of forecasts. The group continues to see strong demand for its low cost homes and the referendum is having no effect on its core customer base who are trying to get on to the housing ladder. The outlook for its strategic land arm also remains buoyant with early indications pointing to a continuing commitment from its mid-sized housebuilding customers, who have short land banks which they need to continue to replenish.

Masonry group Forterra is mothballing brick factories in Lancashire while it assesses demand. Forterra has sufficient brick inventory and production capacity to meet demand should housing output continue to grow as previously expected. The factories in Accrington and Claughton were mothballed between 2010 and 2014 and Forterra has shown it can bring them back online in a short period of time.

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.