Crest Nicholson Holdings PLC (LON:CRST) on Wednesday announced a major management reshuffle as the British housebuilder reported an increase in full year profits and revenues.
Chief executive Stephen Stone will become executive chairman on March 22 at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) before moving into the role of non-executive chairman after a year.
READ: Crest Nicholson sees dramatic slow-down in average selling prices
William Rucker, who has been chairman since September 2011, will not seek re-election at the AGM. Chief operating officer Patrick Bergin will replace Stone as chief executive. Leslie Van de Walle has been appointed as deputy chairman and senior independent director with immediate effect.
"Under the leadership of Stephen and Patrick, Crest Nicholson has been a very strong performer since its initial public offering in February 2013 achieving significant increases in total shareholder return, profitability and number of homes built,” said Octavia Morley, interim chair of the Nomination Committee.
“The board believes their combined leadership as CEO and chairman will continue to be a winning formula for shareholders in the future.”
Full year profits and revenues rise
Alongside the announcement, the company posted a 6% increase in pre-tax profits to £207mln for the year to October 31, 2017.
Sales rose 7% to a record £1.1bn as the company completed 2,935 new homes, up 2.3% on the previous year. The group said it continues to target sales of £1.4bn by 2019.
Average selling prices selling prices increased 5% to £388,000.
The company said the new build market remains “generally robust”, though sales in central London were slower than expected and prices were softer.
Lower margins on sales in central London led to the gross margin for the year falling slightly to 26.4% from 26.7% the previous year.
Crest Nicholson hikes dividend
Crest Nicholson’s total dividend rose by 19.6% to 33p each and the company ended the year with net cash of £33.2mln, compared to £77mln in 2016.
Forward sales at mid-January stood at £575.7mln, up 8% on last year.
“The new build housing market continues to be robust, sustained by strong demand for new homes, a benign land market and government policies to improve access to housing,” said Stone.
“Against this backdrop, Crest Nicholson is confident in its ability to continue delivering great homes for customers and strong returns for shareholders."
Shares rose 1.06% to 524p each in morning trading.