Crest Nicholson shares rally as full-year profits jump by a third
Crest Nicholson has posted bumper full-year profits as the housebuilder stormed ahead with plans to build 4,000 homes by 2019.
Home completions rose by eight per cent to 2,725 homes in the year to 31 October, with sales revenues up by 26 per cent to £804.8m. The strong performance helped drive a 32 per cent jump in pre-tax profits to £154m, which topped analyst expectations.
Shares rose by 5.56 per cent yesterday to close at 541p. Chief executive Stephen Stone said that since its low point 0f 1,520 homes delivered in 2011, the group has increased its volumes by almost 80 per cent and that it remained on track to deliver 4,000 homes and £1.4bn of revenue by 2019.
Stone said the housing market had become more sustainable thanks to strong demand, a benign land market and government policies to improve access to home ownership.
“We remain confident that this environment provides Crest Nicholson with the opportunity to grow housing volumes and deliver strong cash returns to shareholders over the medium to long ,” he said.
As of mid-January, Crest Nicholson had achieved forward sales of £511.8m compared with £399.8m last year, which means 37 per cent of this year's forecast has been secured.