Winkworth sees FY profit 'slightly ahead' despite challenging market

AIM-listed estate agent Winkworth reported a rise in full-year total revenue on Wednesday and said full-year profit should be "slightly ahead" of 2017 despite a challenging market.

In an update for the year to the 31 December 2018, the company said the UK residential sales market continued to be challenging amid low stock availability. Prime central London prices stabilised around 15-20% below the peak levels seen in 2014, while prices in greater London slipped by as much as 10%.

Winkworth said that while the number of transactions in London remained weak, it ranked second by number of exchanges and third by number of new listings according to data collated by TwentyCI.

Despite rental prices being broadly flat for the year, the company said it achieved a further increase in revenue from its lettings and management business, which now accounts for half of group turnover.

Total revenues for 2018 rose on the previous year and are expected to be within 5% of market expectations, while pre-tax profits are expected to be higher than in 2017 and slightly ahead of expectations of £1.4m.

Chief executive officer Dominic Agace said: "We are proud of what the group was able to achieve in 2018 in a market still suffering from uncertainty, and this is further testimony to the hard work and dedication of our franchisees.

"While the outlook remains hard to forecast, the market fundamentals remain sound with interest rates low, real wage growth and record levels of employment. We are encouraged by the sharp increase in applicants on our site for both property purchases and rentals seen in December."

At 0920 GMT, the shares were up 2.6% to 112.90p.