Harworth Group receives £582.9M takeover offer from Peel Group
What's the deal? PersimmonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → reported higher first-half profit and completions, saying it remains on track to deliver 2026 growth despite affordability pressures in the UK housing market. Revenue rose 15% to £1.73 billion, while pretax profit climbed 15% to £168.0 million from £146.7 million a year earlier.
The details: New home completions increased 13% to 5,189, and underlying operating profit grew 10% to £189.1 million. The York-based housebuilder held its interim dividend at 20p per share.
Why now? Forward sales strengthened to £1.91 billion across 8,200 homes by August 2, up from £1.86 billion across 8,098 homes a year earlier. Persimmon expects 2026 completions of around 12,242 homes and underlying operating profit of £491 million.
What could go wrong? Persimmon warned that build cost inflation will rise in 2027, partly due to the conflict in Iran. It also flagged that government planning reforms "need to translate into faster progress on the ground" amid ongoing affordability constraints and a long-term undersupply of homes.
Meanwhile: Metlen Energy & MetalsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → posted record first-half results and reaffirmed its guidance. Revenue rose 11% to €3.99 billion and pretax profit climbed 25% to €363.1 million, while EBITDA grew 24% to a record €550 million. Net leverage fell to 1.7 times from 3.1 times at the end of 2025, supported by strong cash flow and asset rotation.
Also moving: Harworth GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → received a £582.9 million cash takeover offer from Peel GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Admiral Group, by contrast, reported an 18% drop in first-half pretax profit to £429.2 million and cut its interim dividend to 70.5p from 115.0p, though it announced a £45.0 million share buyback.
The signal: Britain's housebuilders are steering through weak affordability and rising costs by leaning on order books and firm guidance. Persimmon's confidence in 2026 growth suggests the sector sees demand holding, even as planning reform and cost inflation remain the swing factors.
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