11th Sep 2018 09:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Estate agent franchisor Belvoir Lettings PLC held its dividend Tuesday as profit and revenue both rose as it outperformed its market.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit doubled to GBP2.9 million from GBP1.4 million the year prior. This was after revenue rose 17% to GBP6.1 million from GBP5.2 million the year before.
Profit performance was helped by a GBP800,000 gain associated with the reduction in contingent consideration payable in the period.
This is associated with its second tranche of the deferred consideration for its GBP22.0 million acquisition of independent UK lettings franchise Northwood GB Ltd announced in June 2016. Belvoir now expects the final settlement to be just GBP4.2 million rather than the initially expected GBP5.0 million.
"I am delighted to report another half year of further strategic progress for the group, which continues to outperform both the sales and lettings markets which together, with the addition of financial services, has helped to deliver a strong set of first half results," Belvoir Chief Executive Officer Dorian Gonsalves said.
"The continued extraordinary success of our assisted acquisitions programme during the six months under review reflects our considerable investment in a highly skilled in-house acquisitions team focused on enabling our franchisees to take advantage of the growth opportunities that a consolidating market presents," Gonsalves added. "In addition, through our investment in Brook, we are seeing the benefits of diversifying into financial services for both our franchisees and for the group."
During the period, the number of properties managed increased to 61,100 from 57,637 the year prior. Belvoir proposed a 3.4 pence per share interim dividend, flat on the year prior.
"Franchising lies at the heart of our group and the board continues to look for opportunities to build on its franchising expertise," Gonsalves explained. "I am pleased to further report that, despite the tough market conditions, Belvoir has achieved a promising start to the second half, and as such the company is on track to meet management expectations for the year."
Shares in Belvoir were 4.3% higher at 109.00 pence on Tuesday.
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