Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Crest Nicholson Holdings PLC on Wednesday outlined a growth strategy which it hopes also will make it more profitable.
The FTSE 250-listed housebuilder was hosting a capital markets day.
Crest Nicholson said that, in phase one of the plan, it expects to achieve gross margin rate accretion and volume growth from existing divisions through to the financial year ending October 31, 2024. After that, in phase two, the company said it will aim for volume growth from the three new divisions.
Crest Nicholson said it expects its home completions to exceed 3,000 in financial 2024, rising to over 4,200 completion in financial 2026. Operating profit margins are seen between 18% and 20% during the entire period.
For the year to the end of October 2020, Crest Nicholson posted 2,247 home completions and adjusted operating profit margin of 8.4%.
The medium-term guidance come as the Surrey, England-based residential housebuilder said it has completed a turnaround of its financial and operational performance. It has established a "strong" operating platform and has assembled a leadership team to deliver the next phase of growth.
Back in June, Crest Nicholson said that for the six months that ended April 30, it swung to a pretax profit of GBP36.3 million from a GBP51.2 million loss a year before, as rose 35% to GBP324.5 million from GBP240.0 million.
It also raised its full-year guidance at the time. It now expects to report full-year adjusted pretax profit of at least GBP100.0 million, which would be more than double the GBP45.9 million reported for financial 2020 financial year.
Crest Nicholson on Wednesday noted it has introduced a new house type range, while maintaining a strong focus on operational efficiency, cash flow generation and a disciplined approach to capital allocation.
In addition, the company reported new targets in respect of climate change. Crest Nicholson said it plans to achieve net zero emissions across its value chain by 2050 at the latest.
Crest Nicholson shares were trading 2.0% higher in London on Wednesday morning at 380.40 pence each.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
