 Housing woes take toll on Persimmon
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-09 07:34 Persimmon Plc, the United Kingdom's second-biggest homebuilder, eliminated 1,100 jobs after the worst housing slump in 30 years dragged down first-half sales by 34 percent. Persimmon, which dropped 72 percent this year, fell as much as 8.6 percent in London trading yesterday, and changed hands 1.3 percent down at 225 pence as of 10:51 am local time. The cuts, amounting to 20 percent of the York, England-based company's workforce, Persimmon said. Homebuilders need to reduce costs and write down land values as house prices fall "faster and further" with "little recovery in real terms expected over 20 years", Merrill Lynch & Co analysts said. Taylor Wimpey Plc, the largest in the industry, said last week it failed to raise funds from investors and will close a third of its offices after mortgage approvals dropped to the lowest in at least nine years. Agencies (China Daily 07/09/2008 page17) |
