0732 GMT - Although home builder Persimmon reported a 36% fall in first-half volumes, sales prices remained firm and the order book steady at GBP1.6 billion, Quilter Cheviot analyst Oli Creasey says in a note. Despite selling only 4,249 houses in 1H, it has increased full-year volumes guidance to at least 9,000, suggesting 2H volumes will be at least 105 higher, and this is encouraging, Creasey says. The company has done its best to control costs, and has halved the number of reportable items, with cost inflation staying at around 5%, he says. "Controlling this figure will help keep costs low, but also increase customer satisfaction, which remains high with Persimmon retaining its five-star customer rating in the period," he says. Shares are up 1.3% at 1,138.50 pence. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)

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Antofagasta's 1H Broadly in Line Despite Weaker Ebitda

0728 GMT - Antofagasta reported a first-half performance broadly in line with expectations while Ebitda came in slightly weaker than expected, Citi analyst Ephrem Ravi says in a note. The Chile-focused copper miner reported a weaker Ebitda largely driven by one-off costs, which are unlikely to cause major changes to consensus estimates for 2023, Ravi adds. The key catalyst for the company's growth is the unit cost optimization and volume ramp up in 2H at Los Pelambres, he adds. Citi has a neutral rating on the stock and a target price of 1,500.00 pence. (michael.susin@wsj.com)


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08-10-23 0529ET