(Adds details on revenue, background)
Jan 13 (Reuters) - British homebuilder Persimmon
posted a 9% fall in 2020 revenue on Wednesday and flagged risks
to its construction sites from the fast-spreading new variant of
COVID-19 which has spurred calls for an even tighter UK
lockdown.
The warning from Britain's second-largest homebuilder pushed
its shares 1.5% lower in early trade and came despite a 25% jump
in its forward sales to 1.69 billion pounds ($2.31 billion) from
1.36 billion pounds a year ago.
"Demand for new homes has remained resilient throughout the
second half with the group's average weekly sales rate per site
being 39% higher than the second half of last year," the company
said in a trading update.
While revenue dipped to 3.33 billion pounds from 3.65
billion a year ago, Persimmon said average selling prices had
risen to just over 230,000 pounds from 215,000 in 2019.
House prices marked their biggest annual increase in six
years last month on the back of government tax incentives and
COVID-driven appetite for larger homes.
England is now back under lockdown, however, potentially
hampering prospective buyers, although the new restrictions do
not affect construction sites, offering relief to builders who
had to shut for months last year due to the pandemic.
Persimmon said it was confident of the ability to continue
to operate safety and effectively, but also recognised "elevated
risks to the Group's planned build programmes" and "increasing
operational challenges" linked to unplanned staff absences and
its supply chain.
($1 = 0.7309 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Samantha Machado in
Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Patrick Graham)