15th Sep 2016 07:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - Estate agent Purplebricks Group PLC on Thursday said there had been little discernible impact on its trading following the UK's vote to leave the European Union, and said instructions continued to grow month-on-month.
Purplebricks, which does not operate any high street branches and instead employs local property experts who advise customers through the process of selling their home, said trading since the start of its financial year on May 1 had been "very encouraging".
Since then, UK instructions have more than doubled and have continued to rise each month reaching 3,156 instructions in August. Furthermore, Purplebricks said its market share versus its online peers has strengthened to 65% at the start of September. Purplebricks did not say what its market share had been previously.
Purplebricks said the recruitment of local property experts was ahead of plan, and it was on course to deliver its target of 360 local property experts by April 2017. As at September 14, the estate agent had 300 local property experts recruited, an increase of 46% since April 30.
Meanwhile, the launch of Purplebricks Australia in late August is "progressing well" and has been executed on time and within budget, the company said. Early indications from the first two weeks are "very encouraging" with the number of valuations "substantially ahead" of the UK business at the same point in its development.
Purplebricks said it is well funded and has more than GBP28.0 million cash. The company is on track to meets its full-year expectations, and the UK business should move into profitability this financial year.
The company said it will report its interim results, for the six months ended October 31, in early December.
Shares in Purplebricks were up 4.4% at 135.65 pence on Thursday morning.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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