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Housebuilders Crest Nicholson and McCarthy & Stone saw profits tumble last year as Brexit and exceptional items took their toll on the pair鈥檚 bottom line.

Crest said pre-tax profit sank 39% to 拢102.7m in the year to October 2019 on revenue flat at 拢1.1bn.

In a statement, the firm said: 鈥淒uring the second half of the year, there was increased volatility in the number of site visits, reservations and completions, and elevated cancellation rates as customers continued to cite concerns over political and economic uncertainty stemming from Brexit.鈥�

The number of completions was down 4% to 2,912 while chief executive Peter Truscott, who joined from Galliford Try last year, said it had carried out a rejig of its business to improve efficiency.

He admitted: 鈥淐urrently, we are inconsistent with many aspects of our operations, often doing things differently from site to site and from one division to another.

鈥淭his has led to higher build costs than necessary, inconsistent quality and delivery, excessive overheads and selling costs, and inefficient use of working capital.鈥�

Meanwhile, specialist retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone said pre-tax profit also slumped by 25% to 拢43.4m in the 14 months to October 2019.

It blamed the fall on 拢17m of exceptional costs to do with land that will no longer be developed. It also said this figure included 拢4m of redundancy costs and 拢6m in consultants fees following a strategic review it launched in September 2018.

Revenue during the period was up 8% to 拢725m. The number of completions grew from 2,134 in 2018 to 2,301 last year.