Purplebricks shares rise as AGM begins

Hybrid estate agency Purplebricks Group issued a trading update for the 19 week period to 14 September on Thursday, as investors gathered for the company’s annual general meeting.

The AIM-traded firm said trading since the start of the new financial year on 1 May has been very encouraging, with little discernible impact following the EU referendum on 23 June.

UK instructions were up 121% year-on-year for the period, the board reported, and have continued to grow month-on-month culminating in 3,156 instructions in August.

“Furthermore our market share versus online peers has strengthened to 65% at the start of September,” it said in a statement.

Purplebricks’ recruitment of “Local Property Experts” was ahead of plan and on-course to deliver to the target of achieving 360 LPEs by April 2017.

“As at 14 September 2016 we have 300 LPEs recruited, an increase of 46% since 30 April 2016 when we last reported, [and] we continue to roll out our share option scheme to our LPEs.

“Superior customer service is at the heart of our proposition and we continue to be the most positively reviewed estate agent in the industry with a rating of excellent and 9.3 out of 10.0 from over 7,800 independent Trustpilot reviews,” the board said.

The company’s launch of Purplebricks Australia in late August was progressing “very well”, and was executed on time and within budget, it reported.

“Early indications from the first two weeks are very encouraging, with the number of valuations substantially ahead of the UK business at the same point in its development.

The company said it remains well funded with over £28m of cash, and is on course to meet the board's full year expectations, with the UK business moving into profitability in the current financial year.

“We continue to win market share through a combination of our compelling customer proposition, increased brand awareness and the ongoing recruitment of high quality Local Property Experts, which is driving our local service across the country,” said chief executive Michael Bruce.

“We are confident that the same model and the quality of the local management team will prove successful in Australia.”

Bruce said the way consumers transact residential property was changing, led by the Purplebricks model.

“Our technology, marketing expertise and strong culture, coupled with our low fixed cost business model makes us best placed to win in this market,” he explained.

“We are confident in the future and delivering value for all of our stakeholders.”

Purplebricks will report its Interim results in early December.

At 1237 BST, shares in the company were up 4.23% at 135.5p.