Belvoir Lettings trading well as growth strategy continues

Property franchise Belvoir Lettings updated the market on its trading on Tuesday, saying it had continued “well” in the first four months of the current financial year, as its shareholders gathered for the firm’s annual general meeting.

The AIM-traded company said trading was in line with its own expectations, with increased revenue from its three key income streams of residential lettings, property sales and financial services.

It said it continued to follow its growth strategy of acquisition and diversification at both the corporate and the franchisee level.

“Our franchisees, across all three brands, have completed on 10 portfolio transactions under our assisted acquisitions programme, adding £3.2m network revenue, nearly 2,500 managed properties and £0.3m per annum of recurring management service dees (MSF),” the Belvoir board explained in its statement.

“The group is seeing an unprecedented number of smaller independent lettings agents choosing to withdraw from the sector in the face of increased legislation and the previously announced ban on tenant fees, now expected in the spring of 2019.

“As a result, there remains a strong pipeline of further opportunities to underpin the Group's growth target for 2018.”

Belvoir said its 2017 corporate acquisition of Brook Financial Services outperformed the same period last year by over 20%, as its offering of financial services was rolled out across the company’s networks.

Brook was providing Belvoir’s traditional lettings franchisees - many of whom the board said were already diversifying into property sales - the opportunity to increase their income per property transaction through the addition of financial services.

Belvoir also said it was continuing to bring “fresh impetus” to the group with four new franchise owners having been recruited in the year to date.

One had taken on the previously corporate-owned Belvoir Spalding, another was acquiring an existing Belvoir office and two - one Belvoir and one Newton Fallowell - were opening in a new territory.

The three new Belvoir franchise owners were each in the process of acquiring a local lettings portfolio to give them an enhanced start, the board explained.

“The group has seen a healthy start to 2018 including increased MSF from property sales despite a widely reported background of softening house transactions,” said CEO Dorian Gonsalves.

“A further 10 of our franchise owners have substantially grown their businesses by acquiring a local competitor and we are seeing our lettings-biased Belvoir and Northwood franchisees extending their services to encompass property sales and related financial services.

“We continue to work closely with our franchisees, providing the support they need to strengthen their businesses, ensuring they are in the best position to take advantage of the opportunities arising from changes in the sector.”