Crest Nicholson beats guidance with smaller than expected profit drop
Building sites were forced to close for weeks early in the pandemic (Chris Ison/PA)
Crest Nicholson has revealed that it took a huge profit hit last year as Covid-19 ripped through the economy, but still managed to beat its even gloomier expectations.
The housebuilder said that its adjusted pre-tax profit dropped 62% in the year ending October 31.
However, the £45.9 million figure was still a little ahead of the guidance that the company had provided, of £35 million to £45 million. Shares rose 1.7% on the news.
The share performance might have been better, had not analysts already been heavily predicting that Crest would hit the upper end of its expectations. An average of all analysts found they believed pre-tax adjusted profit would reach £44 million.