Crest said it expected its pre-tax profit for the year ending October 31 2021 to be around £85m, above the originally advised £74.3m and that it had continued to deliver a strong trading performance this year, with its private sales per outlet per week rate in the past eight weeks standing at 0.81. This was a marked improvement on its last reported FY20 sales rate of 0.59.
As of March 22, its order book, which includes sales that will legally complete after the end of the first Help to Buy and the stamp duty holiday extension, was more than 70% covered for its full-year, up from the 55% reported in its preliminary results in January. Crest said this further reflected customers’ confidence in the market.
Crest said: “Given this good trading performance and the continued progress in implementing our strategy, the group is pleased to announce that it now expects FY21 adjusted profit before tax to be around £85 million, and ahead of the current consensus."
The housebuilder said that it had made “strong progress” on all five of its strategic priorities, stating: “We are delighted to have been recently awarded five-star status again in last year's HBF customer satisfaction survey and are focused on delivering against our new sustainability targets.”
The company is set to announce its half-year results for the six months ending April 30 2021 on June 23.
