Crest Nicholson
We saw news last week that housebuilders were running out of land, so perhaps no surprise that today, Crest Nicholson is noted as having bought a £4.3million site in central Birmingham from AIM listed Inland Homes. This is the second such transaction between the parties, with this site being sufficient for 87 residential units. The overall site is just one acre and 87 residential units – presumably apartments – will be constructed.
Countrywide
Sticking with the property sector, there’s an update from Countrywide plc, which badges itself as the country’s largest integrated property services group. They had tried to compete with online challengers like PurpleBricks in what proved to be a disastrous move so this morning are providing more details of their back to basics approach which was laid out a few months ago. The outlook however remains challenging – transaction cycles are taking longer, presumably as a consequence of the ongoing economic uncertainty. Interim results will be published on July 26th but this note seems to be stressing the rebuilding process will take time.
Petards
Slim pickings again today, but a note from AIM listed Petards proves interesting. They recently bought a company called RTS who have been supplying software to Network Rail. The contact has been renewed for a further three years – with an additional two year option at the end of that. The overall deal – if running for the full five years – is worth £1.3million yet Petards bought RTS just six weeks ago for £1.5 million.
