© Reuters.
(Reuters) -Britain’s Crest Nicholson (LON:) on Tuesday joined its sector peers in flagging persistent challenges in the housing market after the housebuilder reported a bigger-than-expected fall in 2023 profit as macro-economic worries dent buyer sentiment.
British housing sector is struggling to recover from last year’s pronounced slowdown as modest optimism from a recent ease in mortgage rates has been tempered by broader economic worries and a lack of clarity over the Bank of England’s monetary policy path.
The midcap builder said it expects the housing market to remain challenging this year, and that the planning environment could slow volume growth in the sector.
The Surrey-headquartered company, which focuses on suburban areas outside London and in southern England, said forward sales – a key industry metric that gauges near-term demand – stood at 1,732 units, as at Jan. 19, down 14% year-on-year.
Challenging trading conditions and incremental cost movements associated with Farnham and other legacy low-margin sites have led to “a disappointing set of results” for 2023, the company said.
Crest Nicholson had cut its annual profit view thrice over the last six months.
Its adjusted pre-tax profit for the year ended Dec. 31 came in at 41.4 million pounds ($52.8 million), compared with LSEG analysts’ average estimate of 44 million pounds. Last week, Crest had guided an annual profit of 41 million pounds.
Separately, the company said CEO Peter Truscott will retire this year and Martyn Clark has been appointed as his successor. Clark will take over the top role later in the year.
($1 = 0.7848 pounds)
