Persimmon profits fall

Last updated 11:52, Thursday, 21 August 2008

THE house building sector, rarely out of the headlines this year, was again in focus as York-based Persimmon reported its results for the six months of the year, revealing a fall in profit to £36.9m from £281.1m in the corresponding period last year and house sales in the period dropped to 5,501 from 8,002.

Persimmon has moved to counter the challenging market conditions by restructuring and shedding approximately 2,000 jobs during 2008.

The mining sector was also in the spotlight as the global giant Rio Tinto announced that its plans to sign a contract with the Indonesian Government to develop nickel mines in the country were on course.