HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon has unveiled a near £20m increase in half-year profits following its £559m acquisition of rival Beazer this year.

Beazer, which included Newcastle-based Leech Homes, agreed to Persimmon's takeover offer in January, with the deal being completed in March.

Persimmon, of York, builds a range of homes across the country. It said that the integration of Beazer had been completed "rapidly and effectively".

This, along with the buoyant housing market, meant the group had enjoyed a strong start to the year.

It built 5,835 homes during the six months to June, a 68 per cent increase on the 3,483 homes built during the first half of last year. In the North, the company built 2,476 homes in the first six months, an increase of 58 per cent on the same period last year.

The rapid and effective integration of Beazer and the strong housing market led to an increased average selling price of £119,645, compared with £103,770 in the same period of last year.

In the North, the average selling price was £93,260, an 11 per cent rise on the £83,790 achieved in the same period of last year.

Jeff Fairburn, managing director of Persimmon Homes in the North-East, said: "The housing market remains strong and we are continuing to achieve forward sales at encouraging volumes and prices.

"Our long experience has demonstrated the resilience of the new housing market."

Chairman Duncan Davidson said the year to June had been the most significant period in Persimmon's history to date. He said: "All areas of the enlarged group performed well, particularly the original Persimmon businesses, which achieved strong sales and profit growth."

Half-year pre-tax profits across the group were £68.8m, up from last year's figure of £48.4m. Turnover, bolstered by the integration of Beazer, also went up to £698.1m compared to £362.3m last year.

Persimmon will now concentrate on building up its landbank, the strongest in the industry, according to Mr Davidson. The group is also planning to "acquire land at keen levels in order to optimise our landbank through controlled replacement".

Persimmon has a landbank of 52,434 plots and an additional 18,905 acres of strategic land.

Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 4.3p per share, a 10.3 per cent increase on last year's payout.