Persimmon plc was down 0.7% in early morning trade.

In the results the company said they had seen another year of strong growth “with legal completions increasing by 8% to 14,572 new homes” an improvement of 1063 in comparison to 13,509 in 2014. Other noticeable results included an improvement in second half volumes by 13% to 17,717 compared to 6,855 in the first half.

The company said revenues for 2015 of £2.9bn were 13% higher than the prior year (2014: £2.6bn), and the Group’s average selling price increased to roughly £199,100, a 4.5% rise compared to £190,533 in 2014.

The value of Persimmons forward sales on 31 December 2015 is estimated at £1,100m which is up 13% in contrast to £973m in 2014. In the update the company said: “this provides a strong platform for the Group to continue to execute its long term strategy, which includes growing the business to take advantage of sustainable market opportunities”.

During 2015 the house builder opened 250 new development sites across the UK. Due to a strong control over costs they expect a further increase in operating margins for the second half of the year inline with November’s trading update.