Crest Nicholson (CRST) H2 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY 2025 results met expectations, with encouraging first-half performance despite challenging market conditions in the second half and early signs of improvement in January.

• Project Elevate is progressing, driving operational improvements, strategic repositioning, and enhanced customer experience.

• Substantial progress made on fire remediation, with a clear pathway to completion and most buildings surveyed; fire safety costs remained stable.

• Balance sheet strengthened, with net debt reduced and improved cash control.

Financial highlights

• FY25 revenue was £610.8 million, slightly down from £618.2 million in FY24, with lower housing revenue offset by higher land sales.

• Adjusted gross margin up 30 bps to 14.0%, aided by land sales; housing margin stable.

• Adjusted basic EPS rose 56% to 7.8p; total dividend for the year is 3.1p per share.

• Net debt at year-end was £38.2 million, better than guidance, with strong cash control and reduced inventories.

• Adjusted profit before tax rose to £26.5 million (FY24: £20.3 million), driven by overhead reductions.

Outlook and guidance

• Targeting further uptick in open market sales volumes for FY 2026, supported by Project Elevate and market improvements.

• FY26 guidance: open market completions 1,100–1,200 units, bulk and affordable 450–500 units, average outlets c.42, sales rate 0.5–0.6.

• Land sales revenue expected at £75–£100 million; adjusted gross margin 15–16%; adjusted PBT £32–40 million.

• Year-end net debt expected to be similar to FY 2025, with £50 million receipts from deferred land sales; net debt forecasted between £15–65 million.

• Spend of £85–100 million on fire remediation and £100 million on land acquisition planned.