23rd Apr 2008 07:00
LSL Property Services23 April 2008 For Immediate Release 23 April 2008 LSL Property Services PLC ("LSL") Interim Management Statement & AGM Statement LSL, a leading provider of residential estate agency, financial and surveyingservices, is today holding its 2008 Annual General Meeting and issues this firstInterim Management Statement in respect of trading for the first quarter ended31 March 2008. Roger Matthews, Chairman of LSL, will make the following statement: "We are pleased to report that against a backdrop of an extremely challenginghousing market, overall the Group is performing in line with managementexpectations for the period, confirming the resilience of LSL's business modelin the face of a market downturn. This resilience is most evident in ourSurveying division. In the first quarter ended 31 March 2008. • Group turnover for the period was down by 3% • Surveying turnover was up by 15% • Estate Agency and Financial Services turnover was down by 16% Surveying: Our Surveying division's activity and turnover is slightly ahead of ourexpectations and is underpinned by the new contract wins with Cheltenham &Gloucester plc and Barclays Bank plc, which started in the second half of 2007.In addition, the integration synergies identified with these contracts havestarted to come through and will deliver significant full year benefits. We alsocontinue to benefit from strong relationships with leading lenders. Estate Agency & Financial Services: Trading in our Estate Agency division has been slightly below managementexpectations but continues to deliver cost efficiencies commensurate with loweractivity levels. This division has been affected by the slowdown in the housing market. However,Estate Agency trading has been supported by the growth of counter cyclicalrevenue streams including lettings and the development of a new repossessionssales unit, both of which are making good progress. Financial Services income in the first quarter has been supported by a markedincrease in re-mortgage activity and continues to make a valuable contributionto the business. Outlook: The Group has made a satisfactory start to the financial year despite a verydifficult market. In particular our surveying division has proven to beresilient in the year to date through its flexible operating model and isexpected to make further progress in the face of a continuing market downturn. However we expect market conditions to remain challenging for our Estate Agencydivision, with the outturn for the housing market in 2008 extremely difficult topredict. The Group is well placed to deliver significant growth when market conditionsimprove and to take advantage of value creating acquisition opportunities whichare likely to arise as a result of the current market." For further information please contact: Simon Embley, Group Chief Executive OfficerDean Fielding, Group Finance DirectorLSL Property Services plc 01904 715 324 Richard Darby, Nicola Cronk, Catherine BreenBuchanan Communications 020 7466 5000 Notes to Editors: LSL Property Services plc is one of the leading residential property servicescompanies in the UK and provides a broad range of services to its clients whoare principally mortgage lenders, as well as buyers and sellers of residentialproperties. For further information, please visit our website: www.lslps.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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