THE founder of York-based Persimmon Plc, Duncan Davidson, and his wife, Sarah, have between them gleaned a dividend of more than £4.5 million from their company's latest spectacular results.

That emerged today, after an announcement that Persimmon's pre-tax profits shot up 33 per cent to a record £470.4 million in the financial year to December 2004.

Mr Davidson, the 64-year-old non-executive chairman of what has become the biggest house builder in Britain, and his wife own 5.7 per cent of the group's 288 million shares - that is 16.416 million shares, each at a dividend of 27.5 pence.

They are the couple's personal fruits - none of them bitter like the persimmon - gleaned from the sale of 12,360 homes at an average selling price of £171,431 generating a turnover of £2.13 billion.

It is hard to remember a time when Persimmon did not announce good annual results.

But even when the 1991 property crisis was at its height, with Persimmon revealing an 11 percent drop in pre-tax profits to £28.84 million, Mr Davison held more than 12 million shares worth at the time about £33 million

This wealth, and his Northumberland mansion, where he is said to enjoy farming and country pursuits, are the ultimate rewards of an astute career in the building trade, which began when he left the Army after four years in 1963, having spent some time in the Middle East.

After two years as a commercial trainee with Wimpey, he opened Ryedale Homes, working from his then home in Aislaby, near Pickering.

Its headquarters moved first to Malton and later to York, and after selling it to the Trafalgar House group he started Persimmon at Fulford - naming it not after the bitter fruit, but the Derby winner of 1896.

Since then, through building up a huge land bank, extending his coverage of the country, floating on the stock market in 1984 and a series of takeovers, culminating in the acquisition of Beazer Homes and the upmarket Charles Church division, earnings per share soared - by as much as 70 per cent in the two years to 2004.

There were others who financially benefited massively from yesterday's record results, including many directors who are encouraged to buy a stake in the group, said Mike Killoran, group finance director.

Among them was Persimmon chief executive John White, whose 1.3 million shares yielded a dividend bonanza of £357,500.

York-based division plays part in success

FIGURES for the York-based Yorkshire division of Persimmon are a closely-kept secret, except in the sense that they contribute to the global record for the company.

But Mike Killoran, the group financial director, today revealed that turnover in the county amounted to £250.5 million, with the sale of 1,500 homes at an average price of £167,000.

He also revealed that the land bank in the county now amounted to 7,200 plots, "so we have good support to grow our business in the future".

Ian Hessay, managing director of Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, said that in spite of a slow down in sales last autumn, business picked up with particularly good volumes during December and January.

"The business is 41 per cent sold for 2005 and we will be operating off 14 outlets this year and looking to increase volume by about 15 per cent."

Updated: 11:23 Tuesday, March 01, 2005