Housebuilder Persimmon posts lower first-half profit

(Reuters) - Britain's second largest housebuilder Persimmon reported a slightly lower first-half pretax profit on Tuesday due to delays in delivering properties that were close to completion as it focused on better quality and customer service. The FTSE 100 company, which builds homes in more than 350 locations in the UK, said profit fell 1.4% to 509.3 million pounds for the six months ending June 30.