Crest Nicholson makes financial ‘turnaround’ with £70.9m post-tax profit up from 2020 losses
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Crest Nicholson announced its financial turnaround this morning, with profit after tax increasing to £70.9m from a £10.7m loss after tax in 2020.
The residential housebuilder reported a revenue of £786.6m, up from £677.9m in 2020, reflecting strategic progress and underlying strength of the housing market.
The announcement proposed a final dividend of 9.5 pence per share and a total dividend for the year of 13.6 pence per share, in line with dividend policy and reflecting confidence in outlook
The group delivered a successful turnaround of its financial and operational performance, which was aided by establishing new relationships and delivering a strong pipeline of bulk deals, including for several low margin legacy sites.
It launched a successful roll out of new house types with over 6,800 units now plotted in the short-term land portfolio, compared to 5,500 in 2020.
The board expect 80 per cent of private open market houses to be delivered using this range looking into 2022.
Peter Truscott, chief exec, commented: “It was a clear objective of the new leadership team to restore Crest Nicholson to being one of the UK’s leading housebuilders. That challenge was undoubtedly heightened by the arrival of the pandemic. However, we can say with confidence that we have delivered the turnaround that we wanted.”
“Our operating platform is now efficient and scalable, our balance sheet is transformed and equips us with the resources to grow the Group’s footprint in the UK and we have assembled an experienced leadership team to drive the Group forward”, he added.
Truscott did state that the firm remains aware of “macroeconomic uncertainty”, but said the fundamentals of the sector remain strong.