REG - LSL Property Svcs. - Full Year Trading Update

LSL Property ServicesAnnouncement

27/01/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220127:nRSa7670Za&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 7670Z  LSL Property Services PLC  27 January 2022

27 January 2022

 

LSL Property Services plc ("LSL")

 

Full Year Trading Update

 

Record full year 2021 Group Underlying Operating Profit, in line with the LSL
Board's expectations

 

LSL issues a pre-close trading update for the year ended 31 December 2021.(1)

 

Highlights

 ·         On track with the execution of the Group's Financial Services led growth
           strategy, with further investment in Financial Services during H2 which is
           expected to deliver benefits in future years
 ·         Financial adviser numbers at 31 December 2021 increased by a record 273
           year-on-year to 2,858
 ·         Surveying Underlying Operating Margin increased to c.25% (2020(2): 21.0%),
           benefiting from operational efficiency and improved income per job
 ·         Estate Agency increased its residential market share across its core catchment
           areas
 ·         Estate Agency residential pipeline conversion slowed in H2 2021, following the
           record market levels experienced in the lead up to the 30 June 2021 Stamp Duty
           deadline and capacity issues in the conveyancing market
 ·         We retain a strong residential sales exchange pipeline at 31 December 2021, 7%
           lower than the record pipelines reported at the same date in 2020. Residential
           fall-throughs remain at normal levels

 

Financial performance

 ·         Group Revenue expected to increase by around c.23% to £327m (2020: £266.7m)
 ·         Record Group Underlying Operating Profit(2), significantly ahead of prior
           year, and in line with the LSL Board's expectations
 ·         Net Cash at 31 December 2021 of about £48.5m (31 December 2020: Net Bank Debt
           £1.6m)

 

Strong balance sheet

We announced the sale of investments in two non-core businesses to simplify
the Group structure, LMS (May 2021) and TM Group (July 2021), for a combined
total of £41.3m in cash. LSL estimates the lost profit contribution for these
two businesses in 2021 to be c.£1m.

 

LSL's balance sheet and strong cash generation enables further investment to
deliver the Group's ambitious growth strategy, including expected investment
in Pivotal Growth, established in April 2021 as a joint venture with Pollen
Street Capital, to "buy and build" a leading national mortgage broker.

 

Preliminary results

We will provide an update on current trading, outlook, and strategic progress
with the release of our preliminary results for the year ended 31 December
2021, which we expect to report on Wednesday 16 March 2022.

 

 

 

Notes to trading update:

1.        This trading update is based on preliminary unaudited
financial information

2.        Group Underlying Operating Profit is before exceptional
costs, contingent consideration, amortisation of intangible assets and
share-based payments. 2020 Surveying Underlying Operating Margin is stated on
post-COVID 19 costs basis

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 David Stewart, Group CEO

 Adam Castleton, Group CFO
 LSL Property Services plc   investorrelations@lslps.co.uk (mailto:investorrelations@lslps.co.uk)
 Helen Tarbet

 Sophie Wills
 Buchanan                    0207 466 5000 / LSL@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:LSL@buchanan.uk.com)

 

Notes on LSL

LSL is one of the largest providers of services to mortgage intermediaries and
mortgage and protection advice to estate agency customers, completing around
£41bn of mortgages in 2021. It represents around 10% of the total purchase
and remortgage market with around 2,900 financial advisers. PRIMIS was named
Best Network by Money Marketing in their 2021 awards.

 

LSL is one of the UK's largest providers of surveying and valuation
services, supplying seven out of the ten largest lenders in the UK, employing
around 500 operational surveyors, and performing over 500,000 valuations and
surveys per annum for key lender clients. It was named Mortgage Surveyor of
the Year at the 2021 Mortgage Awards with Money Age.

 

LSL also operates a network of 225 owned and 128 franchised estate agency
branches.

 

For further information please visit LSL's website: lslps.co.uk

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTBKABBFBKDDDB