LSL slams mortgage turmoil but group figures including instructions hold up

LSL has reported revenues at the same level as last year despite a recent rocky period prompted by turmoil within the mortgage market.

The group revenue figure was £276.1m, for the 10 months ended 31 October, up slightly from last year’s result, £275.4m.

Estate agency revenue was down 6% from £131.6m to £123.4m, and financial services dropped 2%.

LSL, the owner of Your Move, Reeds Rains and Marsh & Parsons, says it maintained its market share of instructions, and slightly improved its share of housing transactions on a national level.

The company’s share of the total purchase and re‐mortgage market increased to 10.2% from 9.0% in 2021.

Lettings income increased by 2% despite a shortage of new instructions.

LSL also reports record surveying revenue, up 9%, and surveying income per job was up from £173 to £175.

Markets disrupted

David Stewart, LSL CEO, (main picture) says: “The estate agency division retained the substantial market share gains made in 2021, in doing so building a strong sales pipeline as significant profits were delayed by the continuing slow speed of exchanges across the market.

“This meant that the group entered the second half of 2022 well placed to deliver a strong H2 profit performance, ahead of the equivalent period in 2021.

“Since that time, market conditions have been more challenging than previously expected, with the mortgage and housing markets being disrupted by political uncertainty and sharply increasing interest rates,” he says.

“Across the market, this has given rise to a reduction in mortgage activity and new house sales, and an increase in fall-throughs of previously agreed sales.

“I am pleased to confirm that LSL’s performance has remained resilient, and we are confident that underlying group operating profit in the second half of 2022 will at least be broadly in line with the second half of 2021,” he adds.