10th Sep 2019 11:33
(Alliance News) - Estate agent franchising firm Property Franchise Group PLC boosted its dividend Tuesday after interim profit widened amid a "strong" start to the year, despite a modest fall in revenue.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit widened 5.3% to GBP2.0 million from GBP1.9 million the year prior. This was despite revenue falling 1.8% to GBP5.4 million from GBP5.5 million the year before.
"We have delivered another strong set of results, with progress in each of our six brands, which have all grown our most important revenue stream, franchise management services fees over the same period last year," Property Franchise Chief Executive Officer Ian Wilson said. "Our profit has also grown, driven by the health of our franchisees' businesses and prudent cost management."
"Historically, the group experiences stronger trading in the second half year, associated with heightened lettings activity in the period from June to September," Wilson added. "At this stage we believe that this pattern will be maintained."
Property Franchise - which owns brands such as Martin & Co and EweMove - proposed a 2.6 pence per share interim dividend, up 8.3% from 2.4p the year prior.
"Thanks to our franchise business model, diverse brand offering, lettings weighting and high levels of cash generation, resulting in a strong balance sheet, we are well-positioned to outperform our competitors, increase market share and deliver value for all our stakeholders in the immediate and longer term", Wilson said.
Shares in Property Franchise - formerly known as MartinCo PLC - were 0.8% higher at 166.79 pence in London on Tuesday.
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