Crest Nicholson hits record £1bn revenue

Crest Nicholson has hit its target of a record £1bn in revenue after announcing its full-year results to October 2016.

The housebuilder posted a 24% jump in revenue to £997m, with a further £3.3m through joint ventures edging it above the £1bn mark. Turnover was up from £807.2m the previous year.

Pre-tax profit was up 27% to £195m compared to £154m last year. The firm said it is on target to deliver £1.4bn in sales and 4,000 homes by 2019.

Commenting on the results, Crest Nicholson chief executive Stephen Stone (pictured) said: “In spite of a temporary impact on sales around the time of the vote to leave the European Union, we have achieved sales of £1bn including through joint ventures, in line with our stated target.”

He added: “The housing market continues to show robust characteristics, underpinned by strong demand for new homes, a benign land market and government policies to improve access to housing.

“Against this backdrop, we are increasing the number of homes built, opening new sites and ensuring that the pipeline of land that fuels our business is progressing steadily through planning.”

The listed housebuilder’s results come after reports two other housebuilding constituents on the FTSE 250, Bovis and Berkeley, could potentially merge.

Elsewhere, according to the Sunday Times, a fund manager at Schroders – an investor which owns a 6.4% stoke in Bovis – wrote to Berkeley asking it to consider an all-share merger with Bovis.

But according reports in the Telegraph and Bloomberg, Berkeley has rejected the proposed merger and reportedly isn’t seeking any acquisitions or mergers for now.