Housing woes take toll on Persimmon

Persimmon Plc, the United Kingdom's second-biggest homebuilder, eliminated 1,100 jobs after the worst housing slump in 30 years dragged down first-half sales by 34 percent.

Persimmon, which dropped 72 percent this year, fell as much as 8.6 percent in London trading yesterday, and changed hands 1.3 percent down at 225 pence as of 10:51 am local time.

The cuts, amounting to 20 percent of the York, England-based company's workforce, Persimmon said.