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Your Move parent group posts extraordinary profits surge

Group CEO says restructure two years ago as well as current market stampede have helped drive jaw-dropping results at LSL

Nigel Lewis

LSL, the parent group of estate agency firms Your Move and Reeds Rains, has posted extraordinary results even taking into account the current surge in sales within the housing market.

The company, which also operates the Marsh & Parsons estate agency in London and eight smaller agencies within its LSLi branch family, has posted profits of £13.1 million for the first three months of 2021, a huge leap from last year (£2.1 million) and 2019 (£2.1 million).

LSL says the marked improvement in its results is a mixture of the stamp duty induced market stampede seen in recent weeks and the better performance of its estate agency business following the firm’s cull of branches and costs two years ago.

Every division of LSL saw an improvement in performance including its financial services arm PRIMIS which is now one of the largest mortgage brokers in the UK.

Mortgage completions totalled £9.3 billion during the first quarter of the year, up by 29% on last year and 22% on 2019, helped by a surge in the number of advisors working for the network.

As announced yesterday, rival The Property Franchise Group has signed a five-year deal to access its PRIMIS network for the firm’s franchisees.

57% increase

Estate Agency like-for-like sales exchange income in Q1 was up by 57% on 2019 and 61% on 2020, as very strong pipelines converted.

And despite problems in the London market during the pandemic, Marsh & Parsons performed strongly, with total revenue in Q1 up 18% over 2019 and up 13% compared to 2020.

David Stewart, Group Chief Executive of LSL (pictured, above), says: “The work we have been able to complete on our strategy emphasises our exciting future, in which financial services will be our chief engine of growth and enhanced profitability.

Industry reaction

Link to Stamp Duty featureAnthony Codling of Twindig (pictured) comments: “LSL, the UK’s second-largest estate agent announced today that its future will be focused more on financing homes than the buying and selling of them.

“New CEO David Stewart, a former CEO Of Coventry Building Society, has indicated that financial services is expected to be the biggest profit centre of the Group by 2023.

“This is a smart move, the way we buy and sell homes is changing as is the frequency of how often we transact, but whether buying selling or staying put, most purchases are financed by a mortgage. Add in the related insurance and protection policies and the lifetime fee pool is larger and less volatile than the sometimes messy business of buying and selling houses.”

April 28, 2021

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