Crest Nicholson first-half profit up 37 pct on strong buyer demand

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - British housebuilder Crest Nicholson said first-half profit before exceptionals rose 37 percent, reflecting "very strong" demand from home buyers, and said its capacity to build more houses was the most critical factor for volume growth.

The company reported pretax profit of 38.4 million pounds ($64.5 million) on revenue up 26 percent to 241.1 million pounds for the six months to April 30, and said it was confident about its prospects for the rest of the year. ($1 = 0.5956 British Pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton)