Crest Nicholson profits jump following stock market return

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson, which returned to the stock market earlier this year, has unveiled a 76 per cent jump in first-half profits.

The Surrey-based group was taken private by HBOS and Scots entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter for £715 million at the height of the housing market in 2007.

The subsequent downturn saw it go through two debt restructurings in 2009 and 2011 and end up in the hands of US hedge fund Varde and Deutsche Bank, which sold some of their shares in the flotation in February.

Crest chief executive Stephen Stone said the number of legal completions rose 9 per cent to 810 units during the six months to 30 April, which helped push pre-tax profits before one-off items to £28.1m, up from £16m for the same period last year.

He added: “This represents a strong start to our return as a listed company. Purchaser demand for high-quality homes, on well-designed developments.

“With this improving sentiment and the opportunities available to the business, the board remains confident in the outturn for the year.”

Crest is due to be promoted to the FTSE 250 index at the end of this week.