The Property Franchise Group PLC has issued a trading update ahead of publishing its interim results on Tuesday, 8 September 2020.
The Group reported a strong performance across the half year as well as a return to growth in the final month of the period which has continued into July.
Despite the challenges of the first half caused by Covid-19, the Group’s revenue for this period was robust at £5.2m (H1 2019: £5.4m).
Management service fees, supported by 58,000 tenanted properties also showed good resilience at £4.2m (H1 2019: £4.6m), despite the franchised network’s revenues being impacted as transaction levels reduced in April and May.
As strong levels of demand returned in June the traditional brands’ network revenue was up 5% on June 2019, of which lettings revenue was up 12%.
Sales activity measures also saw good growth, with listings of properties for sale at the same level as June 2019 and the sales agreed fees pipeline adding £1.0m in a month, bringing it to almost match the pipeline amount in the same period of the prior year.
This momentum has continued into July with a good pipeline into Q3.
EweMove, the Group’s digitally enabled, hybrid sales and lettings brand, set new records for sales listings in the month, up 17% on its previous peak, and sales agreed up 49% on its previous peak.
The net cash within the business increased by 104% to £5.7m at 30 June 2020 (H1 2019: £2.8m) and by £1.7m since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis in March, demonstrating the strong cash generation and continued careful and diligent management of the Group.
As a result of the growth in the Group’s cash position and not withstanding its objective of identifying appropriate strategic acquisition targets, the Group confirms that it will pay an interim dividend of 2.1p in respect of all shareholders on the register at 11 September 2020 on the 16 September 2020.
The Group says the payment is with a view towards reinstating its progressive dividend policy.
Gareth Samples, Chief Executive Officer of TPFG, commented:
“We are very pleased to be reporting such positive news for the Group.
“Over the past few months we have worked tirelessly to ensure that our franchisees had the best possible support and information available to them so they could navigate their way through the Covid-19 crisis, and these figures demonstrate the clear benefits this has delivered.
“I am particularly pleased to be able to announce the reinstatement of our dividend and appreciate that this has only been possible through the ongoing strength and careful management of the business.
“The Group remains mindful that the UK housing market may still be prone to a level of uncertainty and we will continue to exercise appropriate caution.
“That said, our strong balance sheet and continued cash generating capabilities puts us in an excellent position to be able to provide further dividend income to investors and to take advantage of opportunities that will no doubt arise.”
Comments (6)
Refreshing to see that many of the Ewemove franchisees have emerged from lockdown hitting the ground running .Lets hope that the new CEO manage to stem the flow of the previous carnage
Edinburgh and W Grimsby recent casualties but hopefully the trend is reversed
Hats off to these franchisees with impressive sales inventories.All the Bs
Basingstoke 213
Beeston 102
Beverley103
Barnstaple 99
Bexleyheath 82
“EweMove, the Group’s digitally enabled, hybrid sales and lettings brand….”
Yet, the ones you mention all seem to have expensive offices on the high street or locally.
Maybe, that’s why they are performing so well ! 🙂
Ostrich very true !
Having been previously mouthy about the unacceptable personal devestating losses suffered by some individual franchisees seemingly left to flounder by HO I thought it was only fair to give credit where credit is due
Other franchisees also increasing inventory .New broom and all that?
No consolation of course to 1 of the franchisees who are in the process of final dissolution at Companies House where the latest accounts show a 6 figure loss
Russell at Barnstaple has an office now because he did so well without. Maximum respect from me and other agents in the area.
I’m sure Edinburgh would not regard their recent successful and lucrative sale of their business as a casualty…..
You’re right to observe tho’ that’s the B’s have it – which also includes another (almost B), Leighton Buzzard – 97.
Well Head Shepherd the picture at Companies House regarding Edinburgh West tells a different story
The business might have been sold but the company Ewemove Edinburgh West Ltd is being dissolved .The most recent set of
accounts show a deficit of £108k increasing annually from £89,222 .£61,7117 ie continuing and increasing losses from the get go
This unfortunately is not a trend of a lucrative business They only had a very few sales instructions but lets not any hard facts interfere with a good story
A husband and wife story starting up in 2016 , a new career A husband and wife team The husband went back into marketing in 2019