LSL
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Latest property news
Former LSL director invests in estate agency marketing platform BriefYourMarket
Estate agent marketing platform BriefYourMarket has received an undisclosed but ‘significant investment’ from former LSL director and co-founder David Newnes. Newnes left LSL four years after being part of the management buyout team that purchased a clutch of businesses including estate agency Your Move and surveying platform e.surv from Aviva in 2010. The 60-year-old says he has been working as a non-executive director with BriefYourMarket since 2016, and used its services while at LSL. “This is a really exciting tech business that is growing rapidly,” he says. “I’ve enjoyed working with the business over the last 18 months and can see the huge opportunity that it has ahead. “In a tough market, the organisation with the best marketing and the largest market share wins – and still makes profits. “BriefYourMarket.com helps companies achieve this and [was] a “PropTech” business before the term even existed. The business provides unique, tailored, multi-channel, highly cost-effective, marketing solutions.” Newnes has invested in or helped steer several businesses and organisations since he left LSL including app-based concierge firm AskPorter and hotel chain Berkeley Inns. He is also a director of industry charity Agents Giving. Damon Bullimore, CEO of BriefYourMarket (left), says: “David’s experience has already made…
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Latest property news
Strong mortgage and surveying divisions help LSL weather sales downturn
Your Move and Reeds Rains parent company LSL has reported buoyant trading for the final six months of 2018, helping the company beat its own forecast for the year. The group, which operates 441 branches across the UK through its three brands including upmarket London agency Marsh & Parsons, has been helped considerably by its financial services and surveying divisions, both of which increased their turnover significantly. Income from financial services leapt by 17% year-on-year, while surveying increased its revenues by 25% over the final six months of the year as its huge contract with Lloyds Bank began. LSL’s estate agency operation was less buoyant – revenue from sales dropped by 9% year-on-year while lettings income increased by just 4%, helped in part by the acquisition of six lettings books last year. Marsh & Parsons Its London brand Marsh & Parsons did well during 2018, although this is a relative quality as the capital’s housing market continues to take a beating. Sales revenues at Marsh & Parsons were down by 13% year-on-year, although lettings increased by 4%. The agency opened a new branch in Chiswick last year. But despite today’s bullish financial update, LSL remains ‘cautious’ about the UK property…
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Latest property news
LSL reports brisk trading despite Brexit depressing sales by 9%
Read how profits and turnover have increased at the UK's 2nd largest high street operators despite the political uncertainty created by Brexit.
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Agencies & People
LSL reveals profits up by 8% and two more digital investments
Estate agency corporate LSL boosted its performance last year with a £5.6 million windfall from the sale of its shares in the Guild of Professional Estate Agents, its preliminary results reveal, lifting underlying profits by 8%. This ‘exception gain’ plus increased revenue from its branch network including a 10% lettings revenue increase at flagship brand Marsh & Parsons, and very strong results from its mortgage business, helped make 2017 a good year for the company. Its performance, which has been achieved during a difficult sales market, has also been delivered despite 2016’s stellar results, which were boosted by a £32.9 million windfall from the sale of ZPG shares. Last year it also spend £20 million spent on its investment in hybrid agency YOPA in September and, after its strategic review, two other interesting investments. This includes an undisclosed sum in Zero Deposit, the Jon Notley-led alternative deposits model, and £65,000 invested in an online mortgage broker called Property Master. “The Group delivered a robust financial performance given the subdued market conditions,” says Chairman Simon Embley (pictured, left). “I am pleased that the business delivered underlying operating profit growth in both the Estate Agency and Surveying Divisions.” LSL is much loved…
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Latest property news
Property PLC share prices tumble as global stock markets stumble
The global collapse in share prices has hit the main property market PLCs this morning, except for Hunters. LSL Property Services, which owns Reeds Rains, Marsh & Parsons and Your Move, has been hit the hardest. Its shares had dropped by 7.55% by lunchtime today while almost all the others saw their share price cut too. Countrywide’s already much-reduced share price dropped by 5.1% and Belvoir by 3.8% while all the other saw reductions of approximately 2% including ZPG, Rightmove, Savills, Purplebricks and the Property Franchise Group. These share price drops reflect the wider global collapse in confidence among investors, and although the FTSE 100 Index has been drifting downwards over the past five days, the biggest drop took place this morning when it saw a 3.5% drop at the opening of trading, mirroring similar drops in France, Germany and other European markets. The drops in Europe follow worse falls in Japan and the US, where their key stock market indicators fell by 4.7% and 4.6% respectively. These drops were in turn triggered by improved trading conditions in the US, which led to speculation about potential higher inflation and therefore interest rates across the globe. But the global share price…
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Features
Was it all purple? Who were the 2017 property industry winners and losers?
Overall the London Stock Exchange has risen by approximately 7% over the past 12 months although it featured some dramatic drops during February, May and September as Brexit has taken its toll. These have been mirrored within the property industry as both Brexit but also several much reviled government initiatives including higher Stamp Duty and the fees ban, have been announced. And the ten property sales and letting companies that list on the two main stock markets in London – the LSE and AIM – have been part of this story. Here’s how they’ve fared. Share prices Purplebricks – up by 152% After a stunning start to the year which saw its share price rise from £1.50 to £5.13 by August, a recent BBC investigation, several ASA reprimands and problems with review sites, investors have cooled their ardour for its stock, which finishes the year at £3.78p – but still 152% up on January. Savills – up by 41% While everyone’s been talking about Purplebricks, Savills share price has been skyrocketing without too many people noticing, up from £6.88 in January to £9.71 today – an increase of 41%, helped mainly by its global exposure to both booming commercial and…
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Latest property news
LSL reports improving performance despite Brexit “uncertainty”
The trading environment for estate agents appears to be improving, if the latest trading update from the UK’s largest sales and lettings corporate LSL is anything to go by. Group revenue increased by 2.6% from £106.6m to £109.4 year-on-year and, although revenues from its sales operation within its 1,471 branches are down 9% over the past ten months, the rate of decline has been slowing and sales dropped by just 1% over the past three months. The company’s overall performance was given a lift by its financial services division where revenues increased by 16% and lettings, where revenues grew by 4% from January to October. Guild sale Its balance sheet is also looking healthier after LSL disclosed that the sale of its investment in the Guild of Property Professionals/eProp Services made it £5.6 million. LSL, which owns Marsh & Parsons, Your Move and Reeds Raines, has also reduced its debt over the past year, down by £1.2 million from £43.6 million. Although the company notes in its trading statement the recent Stamp Duty changes for first time buyers support for more house building in the UK within the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, LSL is far from bullish. “Market activity levels have…
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Latest property news
LSL signs up with ZPG for another five years
The UK’s third largest estate agency group LSL has signed up its 500-branch network to a further five years with ZPG. LSL’s brands which include Your Move, Reeds Rains and Marsh & Parsons (pictured, right), will now continue to advertise their properties on Zoopla and PrimeLocation. LSL is the last of the large corporates to sign up to another multi-year agreement with ZPG following a similar deal with Countrywide at the end of September and Connells last month. The new commitment to ZPG by the three companies is not a surprise; seven years ago all three simultaneously signed with ZPG and all their then CEOs – Grenville Turner (Countrywide), Simon Embley (LSL) and David Livesey (Connells) were each appointed Non-Executive Directors of Zoopla, before it became ZPG. At the time CEO Alex Chesterman described the deal as a ‘long-term strategic partnership’ and the recent re-signings are a continuation of this. Sold shares All three companies were also investors in Zoopla, although last year all three sold either all or a sizeable chunk of their shares in ZPG. “We are happy to have agreed a long-term extension of our existing relationship with ZPG,” said Ian Crabb, the current Group CEO of…
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Latest property news
A Question of Property: Russell Quirk, CEO of eMoov
Are online agents like yours really gaining market share? Yes, Rightmove figures show the share of online agents has increased from 2.5% in early 2015 to 6.5% today – that’s an increase of more than 100% in two years. We have data that shows, depending on area, the propensity for people to use an online agent is increasing at a significant rate. I believe it’s all about tipping point. If you talk to business experts, they believe it’s somewhere around 12% market share. We are rapidly moving towards that. Where’s this growth coming from? Look at Countrywide and Foxtons. Their listings and revenues are dropping while the decent online operators such as Purplebricks, Yopa and ourselves are growing our share and numbers in absolute terms in a market that is down by 30%. Some say it’s all fuelled by investors’ cash Yes, it is a question of cash but it’s also about proposition and execution – I think there will be two or three winners in this market. Investors are getting fickler and I know of one online agent which is struggling to raise funding now. But it’s more about that if there are ten competitors in a new market,…
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Guest Blogs
Can smaller agents take on the hybrid agent big hitters?
After watching the recent Haye vs Bellew Heavyweight boxing fight, it became to me clear that bigger isn’t always better when it comes to the hybrid agent. During my time working agency side, I gained first-hand experience of the shift in customer expectations. Unrivalled customer service is imperative but now it needs to be coupled with a reduced and fixed price tag. This has brought about the rise of the online-only and hybrid agent. We’ve seen an exciting couple of weeks in this space. Countrywide, the heavyweight champion, has now tested its hybrid offering and continues to roll it out. LSL, the contender, is hot on Countrywide’s heels, declaring its interest in the online/hybrid market and hinting at revealing its hand shortly. In the Purple corner… deep pockets and the ‘commisery’ (or ‘commisery TM’ we hasten to add) led campaign has helped Purplebricks secure a stake in the UK market and embark on Australian and soon American adventures. It’s advertising succeeding in two things, raising awareness of the brand and educating the public on a fixed fee service backed by a convenient consumer facing dashboard. Three heavyweights These three heavyweights are slowly lining up knock out blows. How can a…
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