Purplebricks shares continue freefall despite robust radio defence of sales by new UK CEO

Interview over the weekend saw Lee Wainright savage Jefferies report, but appears not to have reassured investors.

The Purplebricks share price has continued to tumble today dropping this morning by 10% to £3.74p a share, down from its all-time high of £5.13p.

This follows a price crash late last week during which its share price dropped by nearly 15%, prompted in part – it is claimed by Purplebricks – by a market report from investment analyst Jefferies that claimed it is selling fewer properties than the 78% sales rate it currently promotes.

The company’s new CEO Lee Wainwright (pictured, below) went public over the weekend and appeared on a BBC5Live radio programme, during which he called into question the basis of Jefferies report, saying: “Purplebricks wouldn’t be growing at the rate it is if we were only selling half the properties we list”.

“The reason we’re capturing the imagination of consumers is that the old way [isn’t] working,” he added.

“I’ve been in the estate agency for 26 years, I’ve worked on the high street, I know that the performance of Purplebricks is incredible compared to the high street estate agencies.

“Customers want a better way, they want more transparency on fees and the convenience of 24-hour technology and they want a cost-effective way of doing estate agency with one fair fixed fee.”

But the Jefferies report isn’t the only problem Purplebricks faces at the moment.

allAgents calls for TrustPilot review

Review website allAgents, which has been involved in a long-running dispute with Purplebricks over the veracity of its reviews, today called for an independent audit of Purplebricks’ 96% Trustpilot approval rating.

“By their own admission, Purplebricks fails to sell 22% of properties, which means one in five customers didn’t get what they paid for,” says allAgents’ Martin McKenzie (pictured, right).

“Their 96% approval rating on Trustpilot is highly questionable when you have this number of customers who may well be aggrieved.

“Purplebricks refuse to disclose the number of properties they sell and use their Trustpilot score to claim to customers and the City [that] they’re somehow more popular than Disney.

“This just doesn’t add up. It’s high time Purplebricks’ Trustpilot reviews were inspected by an independent source, in the same way their financial accounts are.”

Listen to the BBC5Live interview (approx 10 mins into the programme).

 

 


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