UK's Persimmon sticks to upbeat outlook after HY profit fall

(Reuters) - Persimmon Plc on Wednesday underscored continued robust demand for new homes, dispelling fears of an impending slowdown in the UK housing sector, although the British housebuilder reported a fall of more than 8% in its half-yearly profit.

The country's second-largest homebuilder said pre-tax profit for the six months ended June 30 was at 439.7 million pounds ($532.65 million), compared with 480.1 million pounds a year earlier.

($1 = 0.8255 pounds)

(Reporting by Amna Karimi and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)