The York-based company made a pretax profit of 59.7 million pounds ($98.2 million) in the six months to end June. Broker Panmure had forecast a pretax profit of 48.7 million.

The underlying operating margin improved to 9 percent from 8 percent in the previous year.

Persimmon said it expected the British housing market to remain stable but continue to be challenging due to the overall economic situation.

"Our teams across the country remain focussed on the basics of house building in their local markets which I am confident will deliver future success for the group," Chairman Nicholas Wrigley said on Tuesday.

Earlier in August, rival Taylor Wimpey reported a rise in first-half margins and profit, and predicted a stable housing market, despite economic conditions forecast to be tough for the remainder of the year.

Analysts have said a chronic lack of housing in the UK would continue to act as a prop to the industry.

Growth in Britain's construction industry was broadly steady in July. British consumer sentiment fell back in July towards the two-year low seen earlier this year, a survey showed.

Copyright Reuters, 2011