2nd Aug 2016 07:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - LSL Property Services PLC on Tuesday posted a 35% rise in pretax profit for its first half, but said consumer confidence has since been hit by the Brexit vote and it expects residential sales to remain suppressed in the second half.
The residential property services provider said it was "difficult to accurately predict market transactions and consumer confidence" for the remainder of 2016, but said it does not expect market conditions to improve sufficiently to enable it to meet previous expectations for the full year.
The comments came as LSL Property posted a large rise in pretax profit for its first half ended June 30 to GBP8.4 million from GBP6.2 million for the same period a year earlier on the back of an 8.0% increase in revenue to GBP151.4 million from GBP140.2 million.
LSL Property said revenue from its estate agency business rose 9.0% and was up 5.0% in its surveying division.
The company noted that there were two clear trends in the first half of the year. Underlying housing transaction volumes were 17% ahead in the first quarter when compared to the same period a year earlier, as market activity accelerated ahead of the introduction of a 3.0% stamp duty surcharge on April 1.
Market activity then slowed in the second quarter, and was 1.5% ahead of the same period a year earlier as completions slowed in the run up to the European Union referendum.
LSL Property maintained its interim dividend at 4.00p per share.
"Whilst we expect residential sales volumes to remain suppressed in the second half, trends in other parts of our business are expected to be more resilient. Our lettings business continues to perform well, now representing 29% of total estate agency income. Mortgage cost and availability remain positive for the UK housing market with increasing distribution of products through intermediary channels which will support our growing financial services business," said Chairman Simon Embley.
Shares in LSL Property were down 0.5% at 238.00p on Tuesday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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