Questor: we’ve struck lucky with one builder so let’s put some money into another

It was Napoleon who said he preferred lucky generals to able ones and this column can only accept gratefully the good fortune it had when it assessed Crest Nicholson, the housebuilder, on the very day that it released a promising trading update. The FTSE 250 firm noted how forward sales had continued to build and profits had exceeded expectations. As a result it declared its intention to return to the dividend list in 2021. While the timing may have been fortuitous, the statement did at least ba