12th Mar 2015 08:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Residential property services company LSL Property Services PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit nearly doubled in 2014, as growth in revenue was complemented by a one-off gain related to the sale of its investment in online property portal Zoopla Property Group PLC, pushing the company to announce a special dividend.
LSL said its pretax profit for the year was GBP31.9 million, up from GBP17.1 million last year primarily on the back of a GBP19.8 million exceptional gain made from the sale of shares in Zoopla. Stripping out exceptional items, the group's underlying operating profit increased to GBP42 million from GBP37.1 million.
Revenue increased to GBP287.5 million from GBP258.6 million, boosted by a strong performance in its Estate Agency division, where residential sales, financial services and lettings income all increased. That offset a mixed performance in its UK residential property services business, where a strong first half deteriorated in the second.
But the rise in profit prompted the company to hike its final dividend to 8.3 pence per share from 7.2 pence a year earlier. Its total ordinary dividend payout will be 12.3 pence per share, up from 10.5 pence, and this will be augmented by a 16.5 pence special dividend.
"The group has a robust balance sheet with relatively low levels of gearing and is extremely cash generative at the operational level. The business is well positioned to capitalise on the changing market conditions to increase shareholder value," said LSL Chairman Simon Embley.
LSL shares were up 2.6% to 289.313 pence on Thursday, one of the best performers in the FTSE All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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