Crest Nicholson makes £35m loss in first half as talks with lenders continue

Crest Nicholson has reported a statutory pre-tax loss in its half-year results.

The housebuilder, in its unaudited results for the six months to 31 April, reported a pre-tax loss of £35.2m, down from a profit of £9m in the same period a year ago.

Its turnover fell 21% over the same period from £249.5m to £197.6m as completions dropped from 739 to 584 homes. The firm said it now expects its full year earnings before interest and taxation to be at the lower end of its £5m to £15m guidance range.

It is expecting housing sales of around 1,400, which would be a 17% reduction from 2025.

The housebuilder said there was an encouraging uplift in sales in the first quarter of 2026 but after that “consumer confidence weakened amid broader economic, political and geopolitical uncertainty”.

It said: “Since April, pricing has generally remained resilient, but customer enquiries, visitor levels and land market sentiment have softened. Against this backdrop, the group has adopted a more cautious outlook for the remainder of the financial year.”

The group said it has reduced land buying, marketed non-core land for disposal, slowed the pace of new site starts and aligned “work in progress with revised sales expectations.”

It said: ”These actions, together with disciplined cost control and rigorous working capital management, are designed to optimise liquidity, support balance sheet resilience and ensure that the group is well placed to benefit when market conditions improve.”

The firm is also currently in negotiations with lenders over revising its banking covenants. The board said discussions with lenders to amend covenants on its £250m revolving credit facility were “well advanced”. It said that while it is confident that an amendment will be secured, it is “not guaranteed” and therefore there is a material uncertainty to going concern.

It is currently operating a temporary waiver to report on its interest cover ratio as this would have been breached if reported on 30 April as expected. Crest Nicholson warned in April that it was seeking relaxation of covenants due to expected lowered profits, citing Iran war impacts.

The group’s net debt has almost doubled to £142m, with interest costs increasing by 21% as result.