Winkworth’s sales agreed figures for the first six months of the year are up 19%, as the agency emerges from two years of difficult trading.

The franchise firm’s sales agreed in H1 2024 were up compared to the comparable period in 2023, and with transaction times still extended, it expects many of the sales agreed in H1 to complete in H2.

The directors say they expect pre-tax profits for the year to 31 December 2024 to be in line with market expectations of £2.4 million.

And the company will pay shareholders a dividend of 3p per ordinary share for the second quarter of this year.

New offices

Winkworth opened three new offices, in St Leonard’s, Leamington Spa and Stoke Newington, and resold four franchises in the first half of this year.

It reported a fall in profits in April as sales dropped for the second successive year. The company’s full-year profit figure was down from £1.98 million to £1.67 million, as the fall-out from higher mortgage rates took effect.

In February, the company announced it was beefing up its franchise proposition and refocusing its compliance and training activities with the appointment of Tara Tan to its main PLC board.

Tan is a qualified solicitor with over 20 years’ experience and first joined the Winkworth team in 2001, becoming a Director of Winkworth Franchising Limited (WFL) in 2004 as Director of Legal and Business Affairs.