Crest Nicholson full year results

Most companies had enough on their plate dealing with the pandemic, but Crest Nicholson is also redesigning the plate on which its pandemic is served. It has risen to the challenge and is successfully building a stronger business whilst also managing the challenges of the pandemic. The results stand for themselves, but the story isn’t over yet. Crest Nicholson has ambitious plans for the future, and on the evidence presented today, few would bet against them.

Results highlights

Home completions 2,407 up 7.1% (2020: 2,247)
Revenue £786.6m up 16% (2020: £677.9m)
Profit before tax £107.2m up 134% (2020: £45.9m)
Forward sales 2,702 up 15% (2020: 2,435)
Net cash £252.8m (2020: £142.2m)

Twindig take

An impressive result given Crest Nicholson is executing a strategic turnaround as well as dealing with the pandemic, whilst also doing the right thing concerning the cladding crisis.

The turnaround is working, and the Group still has ambitious plans to achieve. Today it reinstated its medium-term growth targets, which include growing the number of divisions, the profit margin and the dividend, as well as sustainability and environmental targets.

The success of the turnaround is not a foregone conclusion, and one may argue that most of the low hanging fruit has already been picked, but so far, Crest has had one hand tied behind its back by COVID and dealing with the issues of cladding past. Looking forward as the fruit gets harder to pick, the Group will have more time to focus on how to pick it. 

There may be bumps in the road ahead, but hopefully, they will be smaller than the bumps it is currently navigating.