Countrywide results
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Can he turn it around in time? Countrywide profits to be down £20m during first half of this year
The latest trading update by Countrywide reveals sagging profits but signs of recovery programme working at last.
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‘Come back to us’, Countrywide’s Peter Long asks departed talent as profits sink
Countrywide’s Executive Chairman Peter Long (pictured, above) has called for the senior figures who left the business during the Alison Platt years to return to the company as the company reveals its latest figures. Overall income reduced by 9% during 2017 and profits dropped by 23%, driven by a poorly-performing sales and lettings where profits fell by 45% from £48.4 million in 2016 to £26.4 million last year. This is a third year in a row the results from its core branch network have been poor. Countrywide’s mortgage business, which is highly dependent on its pipeline from the branches, also generated less profit last year, down from £22.7 million to £19.7 million. But one area of the business doing well is its B2B services operation. Profits increased by 13% to £35.6 million driven by surveying, and its commercial business outfit Lambert Smith Hampton. The 2017 results also reveal that although the company made an underlying profit of £19.5 million during 2017, nearly half that of 2016, it has reported a loss of £208.1 million after taking a £225.9 million hit for exception items. The company says it will not pay a dividend for 2017. In response to the figures, Countrywide…
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Connells reveals good start to year and increased market share during 2017
The Connells Group has made a bullish opening trading statement for 2018 revealing that more applicants are registering to buy homes with the company. “We are delighted to be entering 2018 with a pipeline that is up compared to last year, and we are confident that, through our breadth of experience, we will continue to build on the success of 2017 and further increase our market share in 2018,” says David Plumtree, Connells Group Estate Agency Chief Executive (pictured, below). Connells also says the company increased its market share last year by 4% despite official figures likely to reveal a 10% decrease in the number of people moving home during 2017, it says. Despite the sales slowdown, Connells says the number of properties it sold decreased by only 3% last year and that “clearly the increase in our share of the new instruction market has enabled us to fare better than the market as a whole in respect of our sales results,” says David Plumtree. Connells results are in stark contrast to its main rival in the market, Countrywide, which yesterday revealed that its income from sales and lettings decreased by 14% last year. Unwavering focus “During the course of…
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Countrywide results reveal digital ‘pause’ to evaluate hybrid roll-out
The latest Countrywide results for the third quarter of the year show year-on-year revenue increased by 2% compared to the previous three months, but was down by 7% year-on-year. And after rolling out its hybrid/digital proposition across half of its network, and despite CEO Alison Platt revealing last week at the Negotiator Conference that its digital Every Customer Counts strategy was delivering better performance, the trading statement suggests this roll-out has now been paused while the company evaluates the strategy’s results so far. But the bullish headline figures in the trading statement also mask some alarming figures from the sales market. Countrywide’s estate agency business’ revenues dropped by £10m or 23% to £47.8m even though transaction levels increased compared to the first two quarters of the year. Countrywide results Compared to the previous quarter, overall revenues increased by 1.5% in London and by 2% across the UK, while its lettings business saw a decline of £2 million year-on-year. Highlights of the quarter include the company’s mortgages business where total lending increased by 16% year-on-year to £4.7 billion although overall its financial services division revenue dipped as property sales continued to decline. “We have a clear strategy founded on being the…
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Countrywide results lift stockmarket price
It may be Friday 13th but Countrywide’s Chief Executive, Alison Platt, is probably feeling a little happier as their share price rose this morning following the group’s reported its income for the 12 months to the end of December. Listed as £737 million, it beat their 2015 figure of £734 million and the analysts’ expectations of £702 million. The figure was achieved despite falling volumes in house sales, through their agency offices, particularly in London. Countrywide (CWD.L) said that the volume of sales in London in the final quarter continued to be below 2015’s levels, resulting in a drop of about 6 per cent in the number of deals for the year. However, its lettings business saved the day, supporting sales revenue with strong activity across the country. Countrywide had issued two profit warnings for 2016, saying that it expected full-year market volumes to be 6 per cent lower for the full year. The group said volumes were likely to fall further in 2017. Countrywide is ‘encouraged’ Commenting on the Group’s performance, Alison Platt, CEO said, “It is pleasing to report modest full year revenue growth against the backdrop of a challenging residential sales market. Our Retail and London divisions were impacted by the…
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Countrywide results: sales sag but letting business is booming
Countrywide says in its third quarter trading statement that changes to Stamp Duty and the EU referendum have ‘significantly’ reduced transaction levels and it now expects the number of homes it sells this year to be down 6% overall compared to 2015. The company says the additional Stamp Duty tax levied on landlords who purchase property and the uncertainty created by the referendum also helped reduce its revenue by 4.3% for the three months ending September 30th when compared to last year, from £197.1m to £188.5m. But it’s not all gloom; the number of homes it sold during the quarter only reduced by 1%, and year- on-ear the number of sales remains up by 7% although in London, like many other agents, Countrywide’s figures are brutal. Sales in the capital were down 29% during the quarter when compared to last year and down 11% overall. Countrywide’s lettings business proved a much happier place. It had 14% more properties under management compared to the same quarter last year after it focussed on landlord retention as a key initiative. The company’s mortgage business is also doing well; it arranged 19% more loans during the quarter than in 2015 and 30% more year…
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