By Aby Jose Koilparambil
(Reuters) -Crest Nicholson on Monday cut its annual profit view, sending shares to a near three-year low as it became the latest UK housebuilder to flag weakening conditions.
Britain's housing sector is facing a pronounced slowdown as high interest rates push up mortgage rates, adding to a squeeze on the finances of prospective homebuyers.
The FTSE-listed midcap firm said transaction levels across the industry had weakened in recent weeks, and it did not expect to see a material improvement in trading in the fiscal year ending Oct. 31.
Crest Nicholson (LON:CRST) shares fell by about 14% to 165 pence, their lowest level since September 2020. The stock was down about 8% as at 0843 GMT.
Earlier in the day, data showed asking prices for homes in Britain fell sharply this month amid rising mortgage costs.
Shares of housebuilders Barratt, Persimmon (LON:PSN) and Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) were down by between 2.3% and 4%.Crest Nicholson, which in June reported a more than 60% slump in half-year profit, said weekly sales per outlet for the seven weeks to Aug. 18 stood at 0.25 units, half the 0.50 homes it had forecast for the second-half period.
"The scale of Crest Nicholson's warning may come as a shock to investors given it reported its first-half results just a couple of months ago and this hints at the speed and scale of the deterioration in the market," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould wrote in a note.
The company now expects full year adjusted profit before tax of around 50 million pounds ($63.7 million), down from a previous forecast of the 73.7 million and about 64% lower than its profit last year.
Crest mid-cap rival Bellway (LON:BWY) has said new home sales will fall "materially", while Barratt has said it will build around 20% fewer homes in 2024.
($1 = 0.7854 pounds)