20th Feb 2018 07:00
The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.
Hunters Property PLC
("Hunters" or "the Group")
Year end trading update
Hunters (Aim: HUNT), one of the UK's largest franchised sales and lettings agency businesses, is pleased to provide the following trading update ahead of its results for the year ended 31 December 2017.
We are pleased to report that despite the well documented challenging conditions in the UK housing market in 2017 which are perhaps best illustrated by the level of completed transactions which fell from 996,650 in 2016 to 850,281, according to the Land Registry, the Group outperformed the market, increasing network income by 9.8% to £38.9m (2016: £35.4m) and results for 2017 will be broadly in line with expectations.
During the year, we added 37 new branches ending 2017 with 213 branches (2016: 186).
Whilst we expect 2018 to be no less challenging we believe this will provide us with the opportunity to expand our branch network further and strengthen our brand. Market conditions will continue to encourage independent operators to be part of a stronger group that can also offer significant cost reductions, particularly in terms of portal charges for Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket. We are already seeing an improved level of enquiries from high quality independent businesses. Our financial strength will enable us to both expand our network and reward shareholders with an attractive dividend.
Glynis Frew, Chief Executive, said:
"We are pleased with our performance and the progress we are making in adding high quality businesses to our network. Our organic growth is significantly stronger than our competitors and we are optimistic that this will lay the foundations for further growth.
The Company expects to announce its full year results on or around the 12 April 2017.
For further information please contact:
Hunters Property PLC Glynis Frew, Chief Executive Ed Jones, Chief Financial Officer
| 01904 756 197 |
Dowgate Capital Stockbrokers James Serjeant (Corporate Broking)
| Tel: 020 3903 7715
|
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited Mark Brady and Neil Baldwin (Nominated Adviser)
| Tel: 0113 370 8971 |
Smithfield Consultants Limited Alex Simmons | Tel: 020 7360 4900 |
Related Shares:
HUNT.L