Major housebuilder blames “subdued” property market for poor results
Crest Nicholson is currently forecasting a loss this year after previously saying it would make a profit.
Major housebuilder Crest Nicholson is blaming a subdued property market for its poor performance this year.
The company has reversed its projected profit forecast of £5million to 10million to a loss of £10million, the FT reports.
Weak demand
It says weak demand and higher costs mean its results are much poorer than predicted.
And it will deliver less new builds than expected, down to around 1,350-1,400 from up to 1,500.
Crest also warns it has had to reduce prices on sales to some of its larger customers, such as investment groups.
Market conditions have been more subdued than expected.”
“Market conditions have been more subdued than expected through the seasonally quieter summer trading period, with affordability constraints and competitive pricing continuing to weigh on open-market sales rates,” the company said.
Anthony Codling, Managing Director of Equity Research at RBC Capital Markets, says: “Challenging market conditions will see Crest Nicholson sell 50-100 fewer homes this year than it had previously guided, small numbers which will have a big impact on financial performance, turning small profit into a small loss.”
Challenging market
Last month, Taylor Wimpey announced it had cut the number of homes it expects to deliver this year, down to between 10,600 and 10,800.
The company said in March it expected to complete 10,600 to 11,000 new-builds, which would already have been 4% down on 2025.
It said the property market was “challenging”, and called on the Government to do more to help buyers with schemes such as Help to Buy.
