Crest Nicolson Holdings PLC (LON:CRST) said it was withdrawing its final dividend for the past year as it expects the incoming coronavirus lockdown in the UK to severely curtail housing production and customer visits.
The FTSE 250 housebuilder said it was also suspending all existing financial guidance “until both the severity and duration of the Covid-19 impact becomes clearer”.
While customer footfall, reservations and website traffic had all improved since the start of the year, the board said it was taking the difficult decisions due to the highly unpredictable situation, considering it to be “prudent to protect the company's cash position and maintain a robust balance sheet”.
Further measures are being put in place to increase cash generation and reduce cash outflow, while also arranging to fully draw its £250mln revolving credit facility to bring £185mln of available cash.
At its 31 October year end the company had net cash of £37.2mln.
"In the ordinary course of business, the company has a strong balance sheet and has made good progress in reducing levels of capital employed in the current financial year,” it said.
Crest Nicholson shares were down 10% to 211.61p after almost an hour and a half of trading on Thursday.