Persimmon, the country’s largest housebuilder, has a strong claim to be Britain’s Google. Its business ethic is not to solve problems first and work out how to monetise them later. Persimmon lays bricks and runs copper pipes under floors, just as housebuilders have done forever. Last year, Persimmon reported an operating profit margin of 28.2 per cent and had £1.3 billion of cash. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, managed a margin of 24 per cent and had $100 billion of cash.

Source: The Times November 05, 2018 16:52 UTC