31st Jul 2019 13:04
(Alliance News) - Property Franchise Group PLC said Wednesday that Chief Executive Officer Ian Wilson plans to retire at the end of 2020, as the property management firm reported a rise in revenue in the first half of 2019.
The group's traditional high-street brands - including Martin & Co and Parkers - generated 3% growth in revenue in the recent six months compared to the first half of 2018. This progress was driven by improvements in lettings, Property Franchise said, and has been delivered despite reduced activity levels in the sales market.
Meanwhile, the group's online brand, EweMove, generated 11% growth in revenue.
Total revenue for the six month period ended June 30 was GBP5.5 million, of which management service fees account for GBP4.6 million. This is an increase from the GBP4 million management fees from the same period in 2018. Management service fees represent the group's recurring revenue stream.
Total tenanted managed properties served rose by 6% to about 56,000.
Property Franchise said it continued to generate free cash flow during the recent half, with net cash up to GBP2.8 million as of June 30 from GBP500,000 a year before.
It said it expects trading to continue to be in line with market expectations for all of 2019.
"We are pleased to continue to deliver revenue growth across both our high street brands and also our online brand, EweMove, in what has been a tough market. Although we have yet to see the full impact of the tenant fee ban which came into force on 1st June 2019, we are confident of the actions being undertaken by our franchise network to mitigate the impact on revenues. We will continue to leverage our scale and strong financial position to capitalise on the opportunities both on the high street and online," commented CEO Wilson, who has been with the company for 16 years.
Property Franchise said it has commenced a formal process to identify a successor for Wilson, who will continue to lead the company until then.
Shares in Property Franchise were trading 6.1% higher at 176.65 pence each on Wednesday in London.
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