23rd Mar 2016 09:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - Estate agent M Winkworth PLC on Wednesday said pretax profit came in broadly flat for 2015 as a rise in revenue was offset by equally higher costs, but said it will pay a special dividend.
M Winkworth said pretax profit for the year to the end of December was GBP1.9 million, flat year-on-year, even as revenue rose to GBP5.9 million from GBP5.5 million. The rise in revenue was wiped out by a higher cost of sales, but was balanced out on the profit line by a decline in administrative expenses.
Franchised office sales were down for the year by 2.4%, and the mix of sales shifted towards lettings and management activity, the firm said.
Still, Winkworth said it will pay a special dividend of 1.8 pence per share, in addition to a 10% hike to its ordinary dividend payout to 6.5p from 5.9p.
"After a strong finish to the year, we are now enjoying a positive start to 2016 across all our offices and an increase in franchisee applications," said Chief Executive Dominic Agace.
Winkworth said it expects the investments made in its services business, particularly customer care and corporate relocations, to flow through in 2017 and further in 2017.
Winkworth shares were up 7.3% to 132.00p Wednesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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