Trading Statement

Persimmon PLC
25 June 2003



                        TRADING UPDATE - 25TH JUNE 2003



Persimmon plc announces the following trading update ahead of its interim
results to 30th June 2003, which will be announced on Tuesday 26th August 2003.



Persimmon has traded strongly in the first half of 2003 achieving good margin
and profit progression against a steady housing market backdrop.  Our results
for the first half to 30 June 2003 will show at least 20% improvement over the
first-half of 2002, further demonstrating the continuing resilience of the
Persimmon business.



Sales levels since last summer have returned to normal levels of activity and we
continue to see price growth across all regions with the exception of the London
market where we develop only a small proportion of our new homes.  Further
evidence of continuing good demand is confirmed by the higher number of visitors
to our show homes over recent weeks and strong interest in our 'Finishing
Touches' offer of sales extras.  Our average selling price for the six months to
30th June 2003 is c. £152,000, an increase of 10% on last year.



Persimmon's strategy continues to focus on margin improvement.  Last year we
achieved further excellent improvement in margins and this progress has
continued during the current year, with margins higher than those achieved in
the second half of 2002.  We are keeping a very tight control on build and
operating costs and we continue to realise the benefits of managing a larger
business.



As expected, legal completions during the six months to 30th June 2003 will be
c. 9% lower than the same period in 2002.  This is due primarily to the
comparison with the particularly strong markets experienced in the first few
months of last year.  In addition, due to planning delays, we started the year
selling from c.10% fewer outlets.  However in the first half of 2003 we have
been successful in opening many new sites and currently have more outlets
operational than at the same date in 2002.



We have been successful in securing new land opportunities at keen prices and we
now have a total landbank in excess of 55,000 plots, equivalent to a 4.5 year
supply. Despite increasing the land bank by c. 2,500 plots during the last
twelve months, we anticipate gearing will be reduced to around 40% at 30 June
2003 (30 June 2002: 45%) whilst interest cover remains at very comfortable
levels.



Earlier this month we acquired Merewood, a regional house builder operating
throughout Cumbria and Lancashire.  In 2002, Merewood legally completed 281 new
homes generating revenues of £35.4 million. This purchase provided us with an
additional 1,000 plots in an area that we had targeted for growth.  The
operation will be combined with the existing Persimmon Lancashire core housing
business and will now complete between 500 and 600 units a year - currently our
optimal level.



Charles Church continues to perform well and margin progression has been
pleasing.  In line with our stated strategy, we have successfully extended the
brand's reach into the West and North of England and we will also be opening a
new Charles Church Yorkshire office on 1 July 2003.  This wider geographic
spread will increase the resilience of Charles Church to any weakening of the
market in the South East.



The Persimmon business offers great opportunities for further organic growth
both from expanding Charles Church by entering new regional markets and, in our
core housing business, by building up our existing regional offices to optimal
level.



Based upon our expectations of a continuation of stable market conditions and
with total sales achieved for 2003 ahead of last year, at over £1.4 billion, we
look forward with confidence to achieving further growth in 2003.





                                     -ENDS-



For further information, please contact:


Persimmon plc                                   Finsbury Group
John White, Group Chief Executive               Edward Orlebar/ Faeth Birch
Mike Killoran, Group Finance Director           Tel: [phone]
Tel: [phone]





Print resolution images are available for the media to download from
www.newscast.co.uk




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange            RTMMMTBJJ