For the year ended 31st October 2024 Crest Nicholson made a £143.7m pre-tax loss (2023: £23.1m profit, restated).
Revenue was down 6% at £618.2m (2023: £657.5m).
The results include exceptional charges of £166.1m, including £131.7m related to additional fire remediation provision which covers all known 291 buildings within the scope of the company’s developer remediation contract
The total fire remediation provision at the 2024 year end was £249.3m, compared with £145.2m at the 2024 half-year point.
Open market private completions were 1,047 (2023: 1,222), open market bulk completions were 331 (2023: 273) and affordable completions were 495 (2023: 525). As a result, total home completions were down 7.3% at 1,873 (2023: 2,020).
Martyn Clark, formerly Persimmon’s chief commercial officer, took over as Crest Nicholson’s chief executive Peter Truscott in June 2024. One of his first tasks was to fend off an unsolicited takeover bid from Belway.
“Since I joined in June, we have worked with renewed vigour to make significant operational progress, revitalising our sales process, improving governance, upgrading management information to allow for better decision making, and enhancing operational rigour and cost control,” he said. “We have implemented adjustments that are already delivering positive outcomes.”
He said that he has undertaken “a comprehensive review to understand the business” enabling him to “craft a strategy” to reshape the business . He promised to reveal further details on this next month.
Of the past financial year, he said: “2024 has undoubtedly been a challenging year for Crest Nicholson. Previous failures to identify and implement appropriate internal controls within the group, particularly in relation to legacy operational issues on complex developments and legacy sites have significantly impacted our financial performance. We have taken steps to address these shortcomings. Furthermore, the market was affected by the impact of persistently high interest rates and subdued consumer confidence.”
He added: “The slower than anticipated pace of interest rate reductions continues to weigh on the ability to convert indications of interest and is tempering the housing market recovery. We remain cautious but anticipate greater stabilisation in the trading environment during the second half of 2025, underpinned by pent-up demand for good quality homes. As at the end of January 2025, the forward order book for FY25 was 1,051 units.”
Commenting on Crest Nicholson’s full year results, Begbies Traynor partner Julie Palmer said: “After a turbulent year, new CEO Martyn Clark will be feeling the pressure to steer the company on the right path in 2025.
“Despite lower-than-expected profits, an optimistic new vision is sounding some of the right chords, but operational issues need ironing out and Crest needs to demonstrate it can take advantage of the expected uptick in construction. Rising interest rates, increased material and employee costs and an employee skills shortage have created a long and frosty winter for construction, but we may see some green shoots start to emerge as some of these factors stabilise.
“As competition for contracts begins, has Crest’s new leadership created the right environment and structure to grow? Only time will tell.”
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