Builder Persimmon shrugs off Brexit as reservation rate rises

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Britain's second largest housebuilder Persimmon (Other OTC: PSMMF - news) said its reservation rate had risen an annual 17 percent since the start of July, shrugging off the impact of the Brexit vote, which some fellow builders have warned could slow the property market.

The firm, which posted a 29 percent increase in first-half pretax profit to 352.3 million pounds ($464 million), said there was an increase in the number of people paying a fee to take a property off the market.

"While the result of the EU Referendum has created increased economic uncertainty, customer interest since then has been robust with visitor numbers to our sites around 20 percent ahead year on year," Chief Executive Jeff Fairburn said.

"Our private sale reservation rate since 1 July is currently 17 percent ahead of the same period last year." ($1 = 0.7600 pounds) (Reporting by Costas Pitas, Editing by Paul Sandle)