Business
AGM Statement
AGM Statement.
About this update from Crest Nicholson Holdings Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \n \n \n Crest Nicholson Holdings plc\n \n \n \n \n (the 'Group' or 'Crest Nicholson')\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n IMPROVING SALES RATE\n \n \n \n \n AVERAGE SELLING PRICES HOLDING FIRM\n \n \n \n \n STRONG BALANCE SHEET MAINTAINED\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Crest Nicholson Holdings plc is holding its Annual General Meeting ('AGM') at 11.30 a.m. today. This trading update is for the period from 1 November 2022 to 20 March 2023. The Company's FY23 year end is on 31 October 2023.\n \n \n \n Trading update\n \n \n \n The Group has delivered a SPOW1 rate at 0.52 for the last eleven weeks from the start of the calendar year. This improvement versus the eleven-week SPOW rate from 1 November 2022 at 0.35, as reported at our Preliminary Results in January 2023, reflects the ongoing and steady recovery in overall consumer confidence and housing market activity since the start of the year. The most likely economic scenario we articulated back in January continues to be realised as average selling prices have remained robust with an enduring lack of housing supply. The market is clearly softer than the previous two years of trading, however it remains resilient.\n \n \n Mortgage rates have progressively reduced as the outlook for future interest rate rises and general economic stability have both become more favourable since the start of our trading year. In addition, lower transaction volumes have intensified competition for new mortgage business and led to increasingly competitive rates for those buyers with higher levels of equity, which in turn is giving them confidence to move home. This is being reflected in our lead indicators. However, those with lower levels of equity are unsurprisingly finding it harder to purchase their first home and making it onto the housing ladder. Support for these potential buyers, in a higher interest rate environment, is going to be necessary if we are to see a full recovery in the housing market.\n \n \n Build cost inflation remains a challenge for housebuilders. Since the start of the year, we have seen subcontractors starting to anticipate a lower level of build activity which is now being reflected in a greater competitive intensity for work and pricing. Raw materials pricing is a more mixed picture with some categories continuing to experience price increases while others are st...