Persimmon says new home enquiries have ‘softened slightly’ but the FTSE 100 housebuilder is still seeing higher forward sales

Yorkshire housebuilder Persimmon has raised concerns over escalating supply costs linked to the Iran conflict, as demand starts to ease. The firm, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, announced it is beginning to encounter inflationary pressures within its supply chain, which it warned could affect its finances as early as the second half of this year.

The Government is relying on housebuilders to deliver its target of 1.5m homes, yet industry figures have cautioned that building material costs could surge as a result of the Iran conflict.

The FTSE 100 company said: “There are early signs of increased inflation in the supply chain, driven by higher energy costs, which are likely to impact the second half of 2026 and into 2027. We are looking to mitigate these where possible through our strong relationships with our suppliers and subcontractors.”, as reported by City AM.

However, the housebuilder confirmed it has yet to witness any “material impact” from the ongoing Middle East conflict. Despite the looming threat of inflation, Persimmon reported that net sales per week are 3% up on last year, with forward-looking sales up by 7% to £1.8bn.

The housebuilder’s share price climbed by more than 2% in early trading, reaching 1,053p, as stockbrokers praised the company’s robustness.

Mark Crouch, analyst at eToro, said: “Persimmon’s update suggests a housing market that, for now, is holding firm, but the bigger picture for UK housebuilders is rapidly darkening. Persimmon’s numbers look solid enough, forward sales up, pricing holding firm, and volumes broadly in line with expectations.”

Property analysts have cautioned that expectations of interest rates remaining elevated for longer owing to the Iran conflict have prompted Britons to delay home purchases, as they await more favourable mortgage rate offers. Persimmon reported that enquiries for new properties have “soften slightly” in recent weeks, though the housebuilder noted that sales have remained “resilient”.

“We continue to be mindful of the potential effects on consumer confidence and affordability, with some increases in mortgage rates seen since early March,” the company stated.

In its full-year update at the close of last year, the housebuilder highlighted a “supportive” economic climate, as the construction and property sectors bounced back from a spell of uncertainty surrounding the Budget. Persimmon recorded an 11% rise in profit, climbing to £397m in the year ending December.

However, sentiment around housebuilders has shifted markedly since the Iran conflict started in February, as demand for house purchases has taken a knock from concerns that interest rates will remain higher for an extended period. Earlier this week, Taylor Wimpey became the latest housebuilder to temper its outlook with a cautious update, warning that construction costs could be poised to increase.

And earler this month, Barratt Redrow – Britain’s biggest housebuilder – announced it would significantly reduce its land acquisition spending, pointing to the need for prudence given the economic fallout from the Iran war. Meanwhile, housebuilder Berkeley saw its share price tumble at the beginning of the month after announcing it would halt land purchases entirely, citing an “unprecedented increase in cost and regulation”.

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Christian Pikul
Vice President of Investor Relations & FP&A

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for listening in today. With me are Mindy West, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Donnie Smith, Chief Financial Officer. After some opening comments from Mindy, Donnie will review some performance highlights from the first quarter, followed by some closing comments from Mindy.

As a reminder, we will be publishing a transcript and recorded playback of these remarks this afternoon, and then we will host a live Q&A session tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. Central Time. Details can be found on our Investor Relations website and in today’s earnings release.

Please keep in mind that some of the comments made during these remarks, including the Q&A portion tomorrow, will be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. As such, no assurances can be given that these events will occur or that the projections will be attained. A variety of factors exist that may cause actual results to differ. For further discussion of risk factors, please see the latest Murphy USA Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and other recent SEC filings. Murphy USA takes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

During today’s discussion, we may also provide certain performance measures that do not conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP. We have provided schedules to reconcile these non-GAAP measures with the reported results on a GAAP basis as part of our earnings press release, which can be found on the Investors section of our website.

The shares of CRDMO player Syngene rallied nearly 17% on Thursday, even after the company reported a 19% year-on-year drop but a strong sequential surge in net profit to Rs 148 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2026, along with key management changes.

While the company’s net profit dropped over 19% from the Rs 183 crore reported in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, it saw a multi-fold increase from the Rs 15 crore net profit reported in the third quarter of FY26. The net profit for the reported quarter included a gratuity re-measurement credit of Rs 20 crore arising from revised labour codes, and Rs 25 crore exceptional loss related to termination benefits extended to employees in accordance with the approved policy.

Revenue from operations, meanwhile, grew nearly 2% to Rs 1,036.5 crore in Q4 FY26, from Rs 1,018 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Sequentially, revenue grew more than 13% QoQ from Rs 917.1 crore reported in Q3 FY26.

Syngene said that its profit after tax before exceptional items fell 16% YoY to Rs153 crore in the January-March quarter of the financial year which ended on March 31, 2026.

Key leadership changes

Indian industrialist Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw who transitioned from the role of Non Executive Chairman to Executive Chairman from April 1 onwards, said she is pleased to have taken the role at a pivotal moment in the company’s growth journey. “I look forward to working with the new leadership team to shape our next phase of expansion, as we continue to benefit from the rising global demand for outsourcing across the life sciences sector. While biotech funding remains discerning and largely concentrated on late-stage assets, Syngene’s diversified end-to-end business model—from discovery and development to manufacturing gives us both resilience and strategic agility in navigating these market realities. We are also focused on building new business lines, strengthening our differentiated service offerings, and investing in AI and digital capabilities that will enhance speed, productivity, and value creation for our clients,” she said.

Syngene International’s Managing Director and CEO Peter Bains meanwhile said that Syngene’s full-year revenue from operations grew 3%, and with an EBITDA margin of 25%, performance was in line with its revised full-year guidance. “The overall numbers reflect the specific impact from a single large-molecule biologics client, with the underlying business showing steady momentum. During the year, we continued to invest in new capabilities and emerging modalities such as peptides and ADCs, further strengthening our integrated offering and positioning us for long-term growth,” he said.
Notably, Syngene announced that Siddharth Mittal has been appointed Managing Director and CEO of the company, effective from July 1, 2026, for a five-year term. He will succeed Peter Bains. Mittal earlier served as the Managing Director and CEO of Biocon.
“Q4 reported growth at 2% and 13% sequentially reflects the ongoing product impact in our largest biologics customer, resulting in full year growth of 3%. Operating EBITDA margin at 25% for the year reflects this impact and additional operating costs as we bring the new biologics manufacturing facility in India into operations. We generated Rs. 521 Cr of cash during the year, post capex investment, strengthening our balance sheet,” said the company CFO Deepak Jain.
Notably, Maninder Kapoor Puri will take over as the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer from May 1 onwards. She previously led the human resources function at Biocon.

Macquarie on Syngene

Macquarie maintained its ‘Outperform’ rating on Syngene shares, with a target price of Rs 835 apiece, CNBC-TV18 reported. This implies an upside potential of more than 93% from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 432.15 apiece.

The international brokerage was quoted as saying by the business news channel that EBITDA was 11% ahead of its estimates, while the adjusted net profit of Rs 150 crore was 8% below expectations.

Syngene share price

Syngene shares rallied nearly 17% to trade at Rs 505.60 apiece in the afternoon. The stock has gained over 17% in one week and nearly 29% in one month. The shares of the company are however down nearly 23% in 2026 so far.

In the longer term, the shares of the company dropped 21% in one year, 26% in three years and over 9% in five years. The company currently has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 20,280 crore.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

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