Crest Nicholson rejoins market with £107m lift
CREST Nicholson kicked off its first official day of trading on the London Stock Exchange yesterday after the housebuilder last week completed London’s largest public listing so far this year at £553m.
Shares in the company edged down by 0.75 per cent to 262.38p – still significantly above its original listing price of 220p and up on the overall housebuilding sector, which was down by more than one per cent.
Opening the London Stock Exchange’s UK markets yesterday, Stephen Stone, Crest Nicholson chief executive, said: “Our listing is the first significant IPO of 2013, and the positive response we have received from the investment community is good news for our industry and the wider market.”
Shares have soared since their first day of trading in the institutional or “grey” market last Wednesday, although private investors were not able to buy or sell shares until they started trading with a full listing yesterday. Stone and his wife Lesley cashed in over £2.5m worth of shares following its admission, the compa- ny’s prospectus shows.
Liberum analyst Charlie Campbell said Crest Nicholson is likely to receive another welcome boost as house-builders begin this week to release trading statements this week showing a positive start to the important Spring selling season.
The 50-year-old firm’s IPO marked a return to the stock market, five years after it was taken over as a result of the market crash. Last night’s closing price valued the company at around £660m.