16th Jun 2015 06:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Crest Nicholson Holdings PLC Tuesday struck a bullish tone about its prospects, as the homebuilder reported that first-half pretax profit rose by about 52%.
Chief Executive Stephen Stone said the business has the longer-term opportunity to achieve a "natural scale" approaching 4,000 units and GBP1.4 billion of revenue. The company said it is on track with a three-year plan to grow revenue towards GBP1 billion by October 2016.
"This uplift over previous guidance towards 3,500 homes reflects the re-focusing of our London division into areas of greater affordability together with quantifying the anticipated level of delivery of units to the institutional private rental sector," Stone said in a statement.
First-half housing legal completions were up 3% at 1,124, Crest Nicholson said, with open market average selling prices at GBP309,000. The average selling price figure, which excludes private rental sector land sale to to M&G, was up 15% over the equivalent period last year.
The British housebuilding company, which builds homes in the south of England, made a GBP58.3 million pretax profit in the six months ended April 30, compared with GBP38.4 million in the corresponding period the prior year, with revenue rising by 38% to GBP333.2 million. Crest Nicholson increased its interim dividend to 6.4 pence per share from 4.1p.
Stone said that sustained demand for new homes underpinned strong sales rates.
"Improving economic circumstances and a clear outcome in the general election provide a good operating backdrop for the sector and give us confidence to increase our volume target," Stone said.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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