Persimmon brings back dividend as profits recover

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The former blue-chip company posted first-half profits of £101.4 million, up from £9.8 million a year ago, driven by increased sales and rising land values.

In a shock move that delighted the City, it proposed an interim dividend of 3p a share, the first payout since it offered 5p a share in August 2008. Analysts were not expecting payments to resume until the end of the year and Persimmon shares rose 6.3p to 352.9p.

Chairman John White said: "Overall, whilst we currently remain cautious, we are optimistic about the future of our business."

Revenues increased by 27% to £776.6 million after house sales rose 16% to 4657 and the average selling price jumped 8.6% to £168,936.

The value of the Persimmon landbank rose by £70.7 million after a series of aggressive writedowns during the recession.

Chief executive Mike Farley said mortgage lending was slowly improving but remained low, putting the brakes on the recovery.

He warned that the autumn bounce would be delayed, but not cancelled, because of the Government spending review in October.