REG - Belvoir Group PLC - Pre-Close Trading Update

BelvoirAnnouncement

03/08/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1335I  Belvoir Group PLC  03 August 2023

   3 August 2023

 

BELVOIR GROUP PLC

(the "Group", or "Belvoir")

 

Pre-Close Trading Update

Stronger than expected H1

 

 

Belvoir Group PLC (AIM:BLV), a leading UK property franchise and financial
services Group, provides the following trading update ahead of publishing
its Half Year results on 4 September 2023.

 

The Board is pleased to report that Group revenue during the six months to 30
June 2023 increased by 3% on 2022 with revenue growth in both its property
franchise and financial services adviser networks, despite more challenging
market conditions in H1 2023.

 

The Group is outperforming the market across all three of its revenue streams;
lettings, sales and financial services. Consequently, the Board confirms that
the Group is trading comfortably in line with management's expectations for
the year ending December 2023.

 

Property Division

Management Service Fees ("MSF"), the core underlying revenue from the property
franchise networks, were up 4% on 2022 with a strong lettings performance, up
8%, more than mitigating the lower level of property sales activity, down 9%.

 

Total revenue from the property division was 4% lower, having successfully
franchised out two corporate-owned Nicholas Humphreys offices in September
2022 and March 2023 respectively, in line with the Group's franchise business
model. The reduction in revenue from converting sales commission to management
service fees was offset by a comparable proportionate reduction in operating
costs associated with these two corporate offices.

 

Taking into account the 2022 acquisition of the Mr and Mrs Clarke network and
the franchising out of the two Nicholas Humphreys offices, lettings MSF in the
underlying business was up 6%, ahead of the UK rental index in June 2023 of
5.1%. Underlying sales MSF was 12% lower which compared favourably with a
reduction of 15% in the number of UK housing transactions completed in H1
2023.

 

Financial Services

Financial services revenue was up 11% with the performance stronger than
forecast at the start of 2023. The acquired financial services businesses in
2022 and 2023 accounted for 18% revenue growth. Revenue from the underlying
financial services business was 7% lower against a reduction of 26% in UK
gross new mortgage lending in H1 2023. The increase in the base rate has
slowed demand for new purchase mortgages but also stimulated demand for
remortgages and product transfers from clients seeking specialist advice on
securing the best available mortgage terms. In H1 2023, the total number of
mortgages written by Group advisers increased by 11% to 10,252 (H1 2022:
9,639) and the ratio of purchase mortgages to remortgages/product transfers
was 47:53 (H1 2022: 61:39) with advisers able to service demand from Belvoir's
extensive client bank.

 

M&A and Balance Sheet strength

Belvoir has continued to pursue its acquisition growth strategy having
completed the acquisition of a financial services business comprising 21
advisers for a consideration of £1.1m on 6 June 2023. The Group's financial
services network now totals 301 (FY 2022: 284) mortgage advisers. The pipeline
of future acquisition opportunities remains strong.

 

The Group continues to achieve a high rate of cash conversion and maintains a
strong balance sheet with net cash of £0.4m (H1 2022: net debt of 2.5m)
having settled deferred consideration of £1.0m relating to a 2022 acquisition
and consideration of £1.1m on completion of the recent financial services
acquisition out of cash reserves. Having repaid all outstanding bank loans in
March 2023, the Group retains an unused £2.0m overdraft facility with HSBC.

 

 

Dorian Gonsalves, CEO of Belvoir Group, commented:

"Our tried-and-tested franchise business model, the diversity of our income
streams, the recurring nature of our lettings revenue and our successful
acquisition strategy, both at franchisee and corporate level, have enabled the
Group to meet and overcome the challenges currently facing the property
sector.

 

"Our franchisees derive 80% (H1 2022: 78%) of their income from recurring
lettings fees and have benefitted from increasing rents. This has more than
offset the impact of a reduction in UK housing transactions in H1 2023.
Meanwhile, our financial services advisers have been able to meet client
demand for remortgages and product transfers in the face of increasing
mortgage rates and this has mitigated the reduction in new purchase mortgages.

 

"The high degree of uncertainty created in the property and mortgage markets
following the mini budget in September 2022 and subsequent interest rate
rises, resulted in a drop-off in mortgage applications and house sales
instructions towards the end of 2022 and made it very difficult to forecast
the impact of increasing bank base rates on these markets in 2023. However,
the outperformance of our business model continues to reflect the
entrepreneurial nature of our franchisees and self-employed financial services
advisers, who remain entirely focused on maximising the opportunities
presented in all market conditions."

 

 

Notice of Half Year Results:

Belvoir will announce its Half Year results for the six months to 30 June 2023
on Monday, 4 September 2023.

 

An analyst briefing will be held via zoom at 9.00am on the morning of results,
hosted by Dorian Gonsalves, Chief Executive Officer, and Louise George, Chief
Financial Officer. To register your attendance please contact Buchanan on 0207
466 5000 or via belvoir@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:belvoir@buchanan.uk.com) .

 

Dorian and Louise will also be hosting a separate meeting for retail investors
via the Investor Meet Company platform in the afternoon of results at 4:30pm.
The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions
can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until
9am the day before the meeting or at any time during the live presentation.
Investors can register via the following link:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/belvoir-group-plc/register-investor
(https://www.investormeetcompany.com/belvoir-group-plc/register-investor)

Investors who already follow BELVOIR GROUP PLC on the Investor Meet Company
platform will automatically be invited.

 

For further details:

 Belvoir Group PLC                                        01476 584900

 Dorian Gonsalves, Chief Executive Officer               investorrelations@belvoirgroup.com

 Louise George, Chief Financial Officer

 www.belvoirgroup.com (http://www.belvoirgroup.com)

 finnCap                                                 +44 (0) 20 7220 0500

 Julian Blunt, Teddy Whiley (Corporate Finance)

 Tim Redfern, Charlotte Sutcliffe (ECM)

 www.finncap.com (http://www.finncap.com)

 Buchanan                                                +44 (0) 20 7466 5000

 Charles Ryland, Jack Devoy

Notes for editors:

About Belvoir Group PLC

Founded in 1995 and listed on AIM in 2012 (BLV.L), Belvoir operates a
nationwide property franchise Group with 487 offices across seven brands
specialising in residential lettings, property management, residential sales
and property-related financial services. With its Central Office in Grantham,
Lincolnshire, the Group manages 75,500 properties and reported record revenues
of £33.7m in 2022 marking Belvoir's 26(th) year of unbroken profit growth.

For further information, please visit: www.belvoirgroup.com
(http://www.belvoirgroup.com)

 

 

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