LSL Property Services has reported record underlying operating profits driven by strong performance across its core businesses.
For the year to 31 December 2021, the Newcastle-headquartered outfit reported revenue of £326.8m compared to £266.7m in the prior period.
Underlying operating profit was at its highest ever amount, increasing 40% from £35.2m to £49.3m.
Investors were told that LSL’s diversified strategy and greater focus on financial services will help it face a more challenging housing market in the coming months it highlighted estimates that suggest the mortgage market will be about 11% lower compared with last year and housing transactions about 19% lower.
The estate agency division increased underlying operating profit by 53% to £18.4m – and LSL reported its share of the entire UK purchase and remortgage market was now almost 10%.
David Stewart, group chief executive, said: “I am pleased to report that LSL’s core businesses are performing well and that our Financial Services led growth strategy has made good progress.
“We expect mortgage and housing transactions to revert to pre-COVID levels with geopolitical uncertainties adding to existing inflationary pressures. These will affect our estate division in particular, and as always, we will be agile and respond to market conditions as required.
“However, the benefits of both our growth strategy in Financial Services and the significant progress made in Surveying & Valuation, mean that we expect the housing market cycle to have a more limited impact on the Group’s results. We look forward to reporting further growth in Financial Services, alongside continued investment in building our D2C businesses and I remain excited about the Group’s longer-term opportunities.”
Financial results:
|
|
2021 |
2020 |
Var |
|
Group Revenue (£m) |
326.8 |
266.7 |
23% |
|
Group Underlying Operating Profit1 (£m) (post COVID-19 costs) |
49.3 |
35.2 |
40% |
|
Group Underlying Operating margin (post COVID-19 costs) |
15% |
13% |
+190bps |
|
Exceptional Gains (£m) |
31.1 |
0.7 |
nm |
|
Exceptional Costs (£m) |
(2.0) |
(7.1) |
71% |
|
Group operating profit (£m) |
72.6 |
23.9 |
205% |
|
Profit before tax (£m) |
69.9 |
20.9 |
234% |
|
Basic Earnings per Share2 (pence) |
59.6 |
15.9 |
275% |
|
Adjusted Basic Earnings per Share2 (pence) |
37.7 |
31.9 |
18% |
|
Net Cash / (Net Bank Debt)3 (£m) |
48.5 |
(1.6) |
nm |
|
Final proposed dividend (pence) |
7.4 |
nil |
nm |
|
Full year dividend (pence) |
11.4 |
nil |
nm |
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