29th Jul 2015 08:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - Estate agency Foxtons Group PLC Wednesday said it expects to meet market expectations for its full year, as it posted a fall in pretax profit for its first half.
According the broker forecasts provided by Morningstar, Numis Securities expects Foxtons to post a pretax profit of GBP43.2 million for 2015, whilst Peel Hunt is forecasting GBP43.5 million and Canaccord Genuity forecasts GBP43.9 million.
Foxtons posted a pretax profit of GBP18.1 million for the half year to end-June, down from GBP23.1 million a year before, as revenue fell to GBP71.1 million from GBP72.8 million and administrative costs rose to GBP53.0 million from GBP49.8 million as a result of an increase in the company's branch network.
Foxtons opened five new branches since the beginning of the year, it said, taking its total number of branches to 56, with a further two branches scheduled to open in the second half of the year.
The fall in revenue came predominantly from lower sales, which offset rises in lettings and mortgage broking. Foxtons said the sales market had remained constrained ahead of the UK General Election in May. Foxtons said that the removal of political uncertainty since then has encouraged activity in its network, and it enters it second half with sales stock levels up 12%, a noticeable increase in buyer applicants, and a strong sales pipeline.
Foxtons will pay an interim and special dividend totalling 4.77 pence, up from 4.54p a year before.
The company said that assuming current activity levels continue, it expects to deliver stronger sales in the latter part of the year, with its full-year 2015 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in line with market forecasts.
Shares in Foxtons are trading up 6.7% at 237.90 pence Wednesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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