Final Results

Crest Nicholson PLC 25 January 2006 25th January 2006 Preliminary Results Announcement Crest Nicholson PLC, the residential and mixed use development company, today announces results for the year ended 31st October 2005. Financial highlights: % increase • Turnover increased to £714.3m (2004: £643.2m) +11% • Operating profit (before exceptional costs) increased to £97.0m (2004: £94.9m) +2% • Profit before tax (before exceptional costs) of £81.3m (2004: £82.1m) -1% • Earnings per share (before exceptional costs) of 48.9p (2004: 49.4p) -1% • Profit before tax (after exceptional costs) £79.2m (2004: £82.1m) -3% • Earnings per share (after exceptional costs) of 47.0p (2004: 49.4p) -5% • Proposed final dividend of 8.7p, making a total for the year of 12.9p (2004: 12.3p) +5% • Net assets attributable to ordinary shares equivalent to 294p (2004: 260p) +13% Operational highlights: • Open market housing units sold up 3% to 1,865 (2004: 1,812) • Affordable housing units sold down 13% to 621 (2004: 712) • Housing turnover up 3% to £545.9m (2004: £529.9m) • Average selling price up 5% to £220,000 (2004: £210,000) due to sales mix • Land sales similar to 2003 at £75.6m (2004: £44.7m) • Commercial sales on mixed use projects up 35% to £92.8m (2004: £68.6m) • Short term housing land bank 14,945 units (2004: 15,060) - 5 years' supply • Housing forward sales currently represent over 50% of 2006 target • Business improvement initiative launched targeting £10m cost savings per annum by 2008 Commenting today Stephen Stone, Chief Executive, said: "Our strong performance in 2005 demonstrates the resilience and flexibility of our business mix in challenging market conditions. We are particularly excited by our progress in mixed use and urban regeneration which we expect to be key components in the Group's future earnings growth. In addition, we have initiated a business improvement programme in order to maximise returns and we expect to deliver £10m of cost savings per annum by 2008. "Our strong current forward order position and legal completions to date represent over 50% of our targeted housing sales for 2006. While it is too early to predict the outcome for 2006, early signs of an improving market, particularly in the South East, make us cautiously optimistic." Enquiries to: Crest Nicholson PLC Brunswick Group LLP Stephen Stone, Chief Executive Andrew Fenwick Peter Darby, Finance Director Kate Miller Robert Gardener Tel: 020 7404 5959 (on day of announcement) Tel: 020 7404 5959 Tel: 01932 847272 (thereafter) The analyst presentation will be available on the Company's web site www.crestnicholson.com from 9.30am ANNUAL REVIEW Results We are delighted to report another strong set of results for Crest Nicholson PLC which was achieved in challenging market conditions. Our mix of business combined with the strength of our land bank enabled us to perform resiliently throughout the year. Turnover was up 11% to £714.3m (2004: £643.2m). 2005 was a record year for Crest's operating profit which was up 2% before exceptional costs to £97.0m (2004: £94.9m). Profit before tax and exceptional costs was down 1% to £81.3m (2004: £82.1m). The exceptional costs of £2.1m relate to professional fees in connection with the abortive approach from Heron Corporation incurred in the first half of 2005. Profit before tax after exceptional items was £79.2m (2004: £82.1m). Trading Housing Against a background of more challenging market conditions, open market housing completions were up 3% to 1,865 (2004: 1,812), slightly higher than we predicted at the interim stage. As expected, completions of affordable units sold to housing associations were lower at 621 (2004: 712) because of a temporary dip in the contracted programme. However, this comfortably exceeded our expectation at the interim stage of around 550 units because of improved rates of production in the second half. Open market and affordable housing completions in total were down 1.5% at 2,486 units (2004: 2,524 units) The average selling price rose by 5% to £220k (2004: £210k) due to sales mix changes. The open market average selling price was virtually unchanged at £245k (2004: £244k) while the average selling price of affordable units increased by 15% to £142k (2004: £123k). In our year end trading statement issued in November 2005 we announced that, with effect from 2006, revenue on housing units will be recognised upon legal completion rather than on exchange of contracts and build completion as in 2005. We see significant operational and cash flow advantages in bringing the revenue recognition point into line with cash collection and this change also brings Crest into line with its peer group. Changing the revenue recognition point from build completion to legal completion has a significant effect on the restated 2005 comparatives because of an unusual bunching of apartments at the end of 2004 which legally completed in early 2005: Half Year 2005 Full Year 2005 Build completion (existing basis) Open market 830 1,865 Affordable 256 621 Total units 1,086 2,486 Legal completion (new basis) Open market 1,057 1,997 Affordable 300 457 Total units 1,357 2,454 Looking forward to 2006, we would not expect to match the restated open market unit completions in the first half of the year because of the abnormal bunching of apartment completions referred to above but would expect open market unit completions for the full year to be similar to the restated 2005 level of 1,997. We would expect a doubling of affordable unit completions to around 900 units. Our housing forward sales position at the year end was 13% up at £227.9m (2004: £201.1m). Upon restatement to legal completion, forward sales at October 2005 rise to £389.6m (2004: £387.4m). Our current forward sales position and legal completions to date represent over 50% of the 2006 target. Land Sales Land sales continue to be an integral part of Crest's method of operation as our strength in land buying and planning enables us to secure more developable land than we need for our own production requirements. As planned, the land sale programme for 2005 exceeded 2004 levels and was similar to that achieved in 2003. Land sales were £75.6m (2004: £44.7m, 2003: £74.0m). Demand for housing land remains good and, provided that our price expectations are met, we would expect the 2006 land sale programme to be similar to 2005. Mixed Use Commercial As anticipated, commercial property sales from our mixed use schemes grew strongly and ended the year up 35% at £92.8m (2004: £68.6m). The revenue increase reflects construction progress on offices and retail properties at Bristol Harbourside and Riverside, Hemel Hempstead. Looking forward to 2006, we expect to finish Riverside, Hemel Hempstead and to bring through the first revenues from our urban regeneration scheme in Camberley. Overall commercial property sales in 2006 are likely to be similar to 2005. Margins Gross margins were down 1.7% to 20.7% (2004: 22.4%) for 3 reasons. First, mixed use commercial sales, which carry a lower gross margin than housing, grew strongly and formed a larger proportion of total sales in 2005 than in 2004. Second, we increased the use of sales incentives to maintain volume. Third, modest levels of build cost inflation reduced margin. The overhead percentage of sales improved to 7.1% (2004: 7.6%) due to turnover gains and strong overhead control. Operating margins (before exceptional costs) were therefore 13.6% (2004: 14.8%). Housing and Commercial Portfolios Our strong land bank and agreed pipeline of urban regeneration projects enabled us to adopt a more selective land buying stance in 2005 and we secured short term land with a projected development value of £750m (2004: £883m). The short term housing portfolio remains strong at 14,945 plots (2004: 15,060 plots) with a projected development value of £2.76bn (2004: £2.89bn). At the current level of turnover the short term housing portfolio represents 5 years' supply. Our housing strategic land bank consists of 12,181 plots (2004: 13,182 plots). In 2005 we converted 495 plots from the strategic to the short term portfolio and the prospects for bringing more through in 2006 remain good. The current mixed use commercial land portfolio amounts to 1.62m square feet (2004: 1.83m square feet) with a development value of £450m (2004: £418m). The majority of this relates to the mixed use schemes at Bristol Harbourside; Farnham; Camberley; and Chertsey North. These housing and commercial statistics now include urban regeneration projects contracted in the year at Bath Western Riverside (Phase 1) and Camberley. In addition to the contracted housing and commercial land bank shown above, there is a pipeline of agreed but not contracted regeneration projects at Oakgrove, Milton Keynes; Penarth Heights; and later phases of Bath Western Riverside. The agreed pipeline at October 2005 represents a further £540m of future development value. Since the 2005 year end, Oakgrove, Milton Keynes has contracted and our 50% share of this 2,000 unit project has moved to the short term housing portfolio. Financial Position Shareholders funds increased by £39m or 12% to £367.4m. The net assets attributable to the ordinary shares are equivalent to 294p per share compared with 260p at October 2004, an increase of 13%. The Group's capital employed of £527.4m has increased by £20.6m and the return on average capital employed is 18.4% compared to 21.7% in 2004. The Group has negotiated a 33% reduction in the margins paid on its five year Revolving Credit Facility and increased it by £30m to £255m. This, together with the £120m US Private Placement and overdraft facilities, means that the Group now has total borrowing facilities available of £380m (2004: £352m). On 2 November 2005, the 5.5% Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares of £38m were repaid at par. The repayment of the preference shares has converted non tax deductible preference dividends into tax deductible interest charges. While this reduces profit before tax by around £2m, earnings per share are enhanced. Changes of Accounting Policy and adoption of IFRS As noted above, with effect for 2006, revenue on housing units will be recognised upon legal completion rather than on build completion as in 2005. If this change had been adopted in 2005, profits before tax would have been £11.2m higher because of the unusually high numbers of apartments which were exchanged and build complete at the 2004 year end but were not legally completed until 2005. Crest is also implementing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the 2006 financial year. The impact of these changes of accounting policy will be finalised and reported in full in February. Their anticipated effect is summarised below: £m Profit before tax after exceptional costs per UK GAAP 79.2 Net increase in cost of sales arising principally from expensing sales and marketing (4.7) Preference dividend reclassified as finance cost (2.1) Net impact of discounting deferred payments (principally land creditors) (2.7) Other (2.0) ----- Profit before tax restated for IFRS 67.7 Housing gain arising from change to legal completion 11.2 ----- Profit before tax restated for IFRS and change to legal completion 78.9 ----- The combined effect of accounting policy changes on capital and reserves is summarised below: £m Capital and reserves per UK GAAP 367.4 Preference capital (repaid on 2 November 2005) (38.0) ----- Equity and reserves 329.4 Pension fund deficit (26.1) Reduction in stock (principally sales and marketing costs expensed) (12.0) Final dividend not accrued 9.8 Other revenue recognition deferrals (7.8) Deferred payments and currency swaps (4.2) ----- Equity and reserves restated to IFRS 289.1 Deferred profit on change to legal completion (23.0) ----- Equity and reserves restated for IFRS and change to legal completion 266.1 ----- In addition, Crest will bring its accounting policy for recognising land stock and land creditors into line with the peer group. This change has no impact on net asset value. Dividend We are recommending a final dividend of 8.7p per share. This will give a total for the year of 12.9p, up 5% (2004: 12.3p). The dividend will be covered 3.6 times (2004: 4.0 times). The final dividend will be paid on 12 April 2006 to shareholders on the register at 24 March 2006. Board Changes In September 2005, we announced the retirement of John Callcutt as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and his appointment as Non-Executive Deputy Chairman with effect from 1 November 2005. In this role, John will continue to promote the Company's expertise in sustainable development and to develop our urban regeneration strategy. Stephen Stone was promoted to CEO with effect from 1 November 2005. Awards The Company's significant contribution to urban regeneration was recognised at the annual Building Regeneration Awards in December 2005 where Crest received the awards for the Regeneration Developer of the year, the Regeneration Partnership of the year and Regeneration Housebuilder of the year. This triple success further underpins Crest's reputation for excellence in the urban regeneration field and should help create further opportunities for the Group in this important market. Business Development and Improvement Crest is now recognised as a market leader in urban regeneration and we intend to build on this base. We have the capability to design and manage large scale sustainable developments in an urban environment and have established a reputation for successful delivery. Establishing our leading position in urban regeneration has required significant investment both in product and overhead. We have tested a wide range of designs and built up skills to deliver solutions which meet local and national planning and design objectives. We are now working to extract maximum benefit from this investment and to eliminate cost through the simplification of our product range and by focusing on proven designs and construction methods. Our aim is to drive up operating margins through a range of cost reduction initiatives, both in relation to urban regeneration projects and elsewhere in the business. To this end, business improvement workgroups have been set up for each function of our business, and these are chaired by an operating unit managing director. The role of these workgroups is to deliver bottom line gains through targeted savings. We are targeting annualised reductions in our product and overhead cost base of £10m by 2008. We expect this process to enhance future shareholder returns by improving cost effectiveness whilst maintaining the excellence of our product. Bringing large scale regeneration projects into production is a lengthy process, but the Group will begin to see an increasing contribution from these schemes in 2007 and later years. Outlook Our strong performance in 2005 demonstrates the resilience and flexibility of our business mix in challenging market conditions. We are particularly excited by our progress in mixed use and urban regeneration which we expect to be key components in the Group's future earnings growth. In addition, we have initiated a business improvement programme in order to maximise returns and we expect to deliver £10m of cost savings per annum by 2008. Our strong current forward order position and legal completions to date represent over 50% of our targeted housing sales for 2006. While it is too early to predict the outcome for 2006, early signs of an improving market, particularly in the South East, make us cautiously optimistic. STATEMENT OF RESULTS for the year ended 31st October 2005 2005 2004 £m £m £m £m Turnover - including joint ventures 714.3 643.2 Less: attributable to joint ventures (12.6) (12.0) ------ ------ Group turnover 701.7 631.2 Cost of sales (555.3) (489.3) ------ ------ Gross profit 146.4 141.9 Operating costs Exceptional costs (Note 1) (2.1) - Other costs (51.0) (53.1) (49.0) (49.0) ------ ------ ------ ------ Group operating profit 93.3 92.9 Operating profit of joint ventures 1.6 2.0 ------ ------ Operating profit - including joint ventures 94.9 94.9 Net interest payable (15.7) (12.8) ------ ------ Profit before taxation 79.2 82.1 Taxation (24.5) (25.1) ------ ------ Profit for the financial year 54.7 57.0 Preference dividends (2.1) (2.1) ------ ------ Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders 52.6 54.9 Ordinary dividends (14.5) (13.7) ------ ------ Retained profit 38.1 41.2 ====== ====== Earnings per share (Note 2) Basic - before exceptional costs 48.9p 49.4p Basic 47.0p 49.4p Diluted 46.7p 49.0p Dividends per share 12.9p 12.3p CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET At 31st October 2005 2005 2004 £m £m £m £m Fixed assets Tangible assets 2.5 2.5 Investments in joint ventures 41.2 21.2 -------- ------- 43.7 23.7 Current assets Stocks 640.1 771.9 Debtors 223.2 239.4 Cash at bank and in hand 57.0 10.9 -------- ------- 920.3 1,022.2 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (295.6) (304.4) -------- ------- Net current assets 624.7 717.8 -------- ------- Total assets less current liabilities 668.4 741.5 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year (297.8) (411.4) Provisions for liabilities and charges (3.2) (1.7) -------- ------- (301.0) (413.1) -------- ------- Net assets 367.4 328.4 ======== ======= Shareholders' funds (Note 3) 367.4 328.4 ======== ======= Net borrowings 160.0 178.4 Gearing 44% 54% Net assets per ordinary share (Note 4) 294p 260p Consolidated Cash Flow Statement For the year ended 31st October 2005 2005 2004 £m £m £m £m Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities 93.1 (41.6) Dividend received from joint venture 0.1 1.4 Returns on investments and servicing of finance Interest received 0.4 0.4 Interest paid (15.9) (12.8) Preference dividends paid (2.1) (2.1) ------ ------ Net cash outflow from returns on investments (17.6) (14.5) and servicing of finance Taxation Corporation tax paid (24.1) (24.9) Capital expenditure and financial investment Tangible fixed assets acquired (1.0) (1.3) Other fixed asset investment loan advances (24.5) (8.8) Other fixed asset investment loan 5.6 3.1 repayments ------ ------ Net cash outflow from capital expenditure and financial investment (19.9) (7.0) Acquisitions and disposals Disposal of subsidiary companies - 2.3 Equity dividends paid (14.0) (12.8) ------ ------ Net cash inflow/(outflow) before financing 17.6 (97.1) Financing Proceeds from equity share issues 0.8 1.0 Acquisition of own shares for ESOP Trust - (0.4) Increase in bank loan and loan notes 18.0 51.0 ------ ------ Net cash inflow from financing 18.8 51.6 ------ ------ Increase/(decrease) in cash in year 36.4 (45.5) ====== ====== NOTES 1 Exceptional Costs The exceptional costs consist of professional fees incurred in connection with the approach the Company received from Heron Corporation. 2 Earnings per share Earnings per share are calculated on the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of £52.6m (2004: £54.9m), on a weighted average of 111,852,392 (2004: 111,043,698) ordinary shares in issue during the year. Earnings per share before exceptional costs are calculated on the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders before exceptional costs of £54.7m (2004: £54.9m). Diluted earnings per share are calculated on the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of £52.6m (2004: £54.9m), on a weighted average of 112,700,749 (2004: 112,042,818) ordinary shares on the basis that 2,282,232 (2004: 2,555,643) share options had been exercised. 3 Reconciliation of shareholders' funds 2005 2004 £m £m Retained profit 38.1 41.2 Net proceeds from share issues 0.8 1.0 Employee Share Ownership Trust movements 0.1 0.4 -------- -------- Net increase in shareholders' funds 39.0 42.6 Opening shareholders' funds 328.4 285.8 -------- -------- Closing shareholders' funds 367.4 328.4 ======== ======== 4 Net assets per share Net assets per ordinary share is calculated on net assets of £329.4m (2004: £290.4m), after deducting the preference capital of £38.0m (2004: £38.0m) from the capital and reserves, on 112,128,638 (2004: 111,395,562) ordinary shares in issue and ranking for full dividends at 31st October 2005. 5 Statutory accounts The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31st October 2005 or 2004 but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2004 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, whereas those for 2005 will be delivered following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified and did not contain a statement under Section 237 (2) or (4) of the Companies Act 1985. 6 Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting will be held at the Runnymede Hotel, Windsor Road, Egham, Surrey on Friday, 7th April at 12.00 noon. FIVE YEAR RECORD 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Turnover (including joint ventures) £m £m £m £m £m ------------------------- Development 392.9 515.5 550.5 643.2 714.3 Construction - discontinued 193.2 180.9 23.9 - - -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- 586.1 696.4 574.4 643.2 714.3 -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- Operating profit (including joint ventures) £m £m £m £m £m -------------------------- Development 59.6 79.2 87.3 94.9 94.9 Construction - discontinued 1.2 (3.4) - - - -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- 60.8 75.8 87.3 94.9 94.9 -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- Operating margin - development 15.2% 15.4% 15.9% 14.8% 13.3% Pre-tax profit £m £m £m £m £m ---------------- Development 49.3 66.3 74.6 82.1 79.2 Construction - discontinued 1.2 (3.3) - - - -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- 50.5 63.0 74.6 82.1 79.2 -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- Housing --------- Houses sold 1,543 1,899 1,936 2,524 2,486 Average selling price £186,700 £225,100 £239,300 £210,000 £219,600 Land bank - Short term (units) 10,424 10,760 13,204 15,060 14,945 Average selling price £185,800 £197,600 £187,900 £192,200 £184,500 Land bank - Strategic (units) 11,862 13,735 13,236 13,182 12,181 Balance sheet £m £m £m £m £m --------------- Shareholders' funds 214.0 247.1 285.8 328.4 367.4 Net borrowings 102.5 131.8 81.9 178.4 160.0 -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- Capital employed 316.5 378.9 367.7 506.8 527.4 -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- Gearing 48% 53% 29% 54% 44% Return on shareholders' funds (average) 25.1% 27.3% 28.0% 26.7% 22.8% Return on capital employed (average) 20.8% 21.8% 23.4% 21.7% 18.4% Ordinary shares ----------------- Earnings per share 30.8p 38.8p 45.2p 49.4p 47.0p Dividends per share 8.00p 9.50p 11.0p 12.3p 12.9p Dividend cover 3.8x 4.1x 4.1x 4.0x 3.6x Net tangible assets per share 164p 192p 224p 260p 294p Note: The figures for 2001 have been restated to reflect the change in income recognition policy in 2002. The figures for 2003 have been restated for the effect of UITF38 - Accounting for ESOP Trusts. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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