The £780m-turnover firm has been hit by £13m in “exceptional” costs linked to a fire amid other issues with ”legacy sites”
Crest Nicholson has issued yet another profit warning, downgrading its profit forecast for a third time in a matter of months to £41m.
In November, the firm lowered its annual profit forecast for the second time to between £45m and £50m, after cutting its forecast last August from nearly £74m to £50m.
In a trading update published today, the firm said work on “legacy sites” had further hit its pre-tax profit figure for the year to 31 October 2023.
Last November, the firm revealed its 239-home £115m Brightwells Yard regeneration in Farnham, Surrey, had been hit by extra £11m in “incremental costs”, which it said would impact profit for the second half of 2023.
In this morning’s update, the firm said it has now “conducted a comprehensive review of the costs associated with the work required on this project as well as other legacy sites. Consequently, further additional costs have been identified which will impact FY23.”
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The £780m turnover housebuilder also said it had to fork out an ‘“exceptional” £13m due to a legal claim relating to fire damage on one of its sites dating back to 2021. Crest said this was “unrelated to the general fire remediation programme” it is currently delivering.
Last year, Crest announced some details of its plan for cutting costs following a review of its cash commitments.
It said it intended to reduce administrative expenses by £3m, slow the pace of growth at its Yorkshire division to around 300-350 units by 2026 and merge its new East Anglia division into its eastern division.
In August, Crest warned its net cash would fall to below £100m, down from £277m the previous year.
The firm is due to publish its preliminary results on 23 January.
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