Persimmon cheers investors with sales and dividend rise | Business | guardian.co.uk

Persimmon cheers investors with sales and dividend rise | Business | guardian.co.uk

Britain's second-largest housebuilder Persimmon has seen a bounceback in summer sales, driven by the north, after a dip in the first half of the year.

Shares in the company climbed nearly 3% to 394p, as it cheered investors by upping its dividend to 4p from 3p.

"The sales momentum in the northern business has been maintained - normally we see a slowdown in the summer months," said Mike Farley, the chief executive, adding that unemployment was falling in the north west and Scotland. "We have seen some slowdown in the south and central [England]."