£40m Persimmon write-down
Charles Church housebuilder Persimmon said basic half-year pre-tax profits were down 87% to £36.9m after a £40m write-down in its property portfolio.
The company was also hit by a £15m one-off cost linked to redundancies, after it cut 2,000 jobs to cope with the downturn in the housing market.
Shares rose 28½p to close at 327p, as it said sales volumes have not fallen since its April trading update.