Persimmon says it now has the right level of work in progress

In a trading statement, it said sales revenue for 2006 was �2.4bn, up from �1.78bn in the same period last year.

Persimmon bought Westbury in January and said it was working on improving margins at the firm's developments.

It said the housing market was "satisfactory", with a moderate rise in house prices and building costs.

The York-based firm said it had sold 13,000 homes at an average price of �188,000 this year, compared to 9,974 homes at �183,581 for the first six months last year.

It said it had managed to reduce Westbury's "relatively high level of work in progress by targeting the sale of stock units and reducing the level of part exchange properties".