Christie Group reports more favourable trading environment

Professional services provider Christie Group reported a more favourable trading environment for its transactional brokerage business in an update on Thursday, compared to the first half of 2023.

The AIM-traded firm, which was holding its annual general meeting, said that improvement had led to a better year-on-year performance.

In its professional and financial services (PFS) division, agency and advisory activities had rebounded across various sectors following last year’s disruption in the merger and acquisition (M&A) markets.

Invoicing in the UK transactional business, Christie & Co, had significantly improved, and was expected to strengthen further as the year progressed.

The company said it was also expanding its international brokerage and advisory operations beyond hotels, investing in skilled recruits in France, Germany, Austria, and Spain.

Despite weak invoicing early in the year in its international operations, new instructions were increasing, supporting the group's international expansion strategy.

Valuation activities in Christie & Co and Pinders remained solid, driven by ongoing demand for transactionally-led valuations and valuations for lending purposes.

Christie Finance, the group's financial brokerage business, had performed strongly across its diversified services and maintained a positive outlook for the rest of 2024, supported by a robust lending appetite in its specialist sectors.

The firm said Christie Insurance, its FCA-regulated insurance brokerage, had meanwhile been successful in recruiting general insurance and life and protection brokers, leading to stronger client retention and a growing pipeline of life and protection opportunities.

Its stock and inventory systems and services (SISS) division also showed strong performance.

Venners, the group's hospitality stock audit, compliance, and consultancy business, had exceeded management expectations, while Orridge, its retail stocktaking business, reported improved performance from its UK operations, with stocktaking revenues in Germany expected to be seasonally concentrated in the second half of the year.

Vennersys, the group's software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider for the UK visitor attraction sector, had seen a 30% increase in total revenues compared to the previous year, despite challenges in converting opportunities into revenue-generating contracts.

“The board maintains its expectation for the group's improved performance in 2024, with PFS revenues once again expected to be weighted toward the second-half,” Christie Group said in its update.

At 1131 BST, shares in Christie Group were up 13.04% at 130p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.