Belvoir Group PLC AGM Trading Update (5384N)
21 Mayo 2020 - 01:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBLV
RNS Number : 5384N
Belvoir Group PLC
21 May 2020
Final 21 May 2020
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
BELVOIR!
BELVOIR GROUP PLC
(the "Group", or "Belvoir")
AGM Trading Update
Belvoir Group PLC (AIM:BLV), the UK's largest property
franchise, provides the following update on current trading ahead
of the Group's Annual General Meeting to be held at 10:00 a.m.
today.
The Board is pleased to report that trading during the first
quarter to the end of March 2020 which incorporated just one week
of the Covid-19 lock-down, was strong and in line with management
expectations.
Early indications for April trading, during which all of the
Group's offices were operating entirely under 'lock-down', have
demonstrated the considerable resilience of our franchise
networks.
At the end of April, the Group carried out a rent arrears survey
of all franchisees which has shown that less than 5% of tenants are
in arrears on their rent compared with the usual 2% experienced by
our networks, only a small increase and which is considerably less
than the Board had expected. In April, estate agency completed on
around a third of usual transaction levels, drawing from the
pipeline of house sales agreed prior to the lock-down. The
financial services division has demonstrated similar resilience
amongst our financial advisers, who have drawn on their extensive
client base for remortgages and income and life protection sales to
deliver income levels in April on par with 2019. As a result, the
overall April performance for the Group was significantly stronger
than had been anticipated.
Encouragingly, as of 13 May, restrictions on the housing sector
have been lifted earlier than the Group had anticipated and Group
franchisees have been able to resume operating from their offices
and to carry out physical appraisals and viewings, enabling both
home-owners and tenants to move home - albeit with the necessary
adjustments to observe safe working practices. Feedback to date
suggests that the pipeline of agreed house sales has held up well
and that there is a pent-up demand from tenants looking to
move.
As reported at the time of our last final results at the end of
March, we remain confident that the Group's balance sheet provides
us with adequate liquidity to trade through this crisis and to
continue to operate within our banking covenants for the
foreseeable future. The Group has been able to continue to generate
cash from operations with net debt at 20 May 2020 standing at
GBP6.9m (31 December 2019: GBP6.9m) having deployed GBP2.0m of cash
in January to acquire the Lovelle network and deferred payment of
GBP0.5m VAT until Q1 2021.
Whilst it is still too early to predict how the housing market
will be affected during the remainder of the year, the Board is
confident of achieving its revised forecasts for 2020.
Dorian Gonsalves, CEO of Belvoir Group, commented:
"Having reported significant growth in 2019 and got off to a
good start in Q1 2020, it has been hugely frustrating for the Group
not to have been able to build further on this momentum due to
Covid-19. However, the current climate has proved once again just
how robust and resilient our franchise business model is.
"The Board is encouraged that the restrictions on the housing
sector were among the first to be lifted. Clearly time will tell as
to the lasting impact of the current environment on the wider
economy and on the UK housing sector more specifically. However, as
a Group, Belvoir benefits from a high degree of recurring revenue
with 61% of gross profit derived from lettings and just 16%
dependent on estate agency. Meanwhile, our financial services
division has a substantial client base to which we sell a wide
variety of financial products, with no excessive dependency on new
mortgage sales alone.
"Unlike a corporate model, Belvoir draws on the resolve and
entrepreneurial spirit of 308 franchisees and 175 financial
advisers, all of whom are motivated to sustain their business
throughout this period, and to return to growth and succeed long
term. Whilst 2020 will undoubtedly be a difficult year for the
property market, our franchisees and advisers have the knowledge
and resilience to overcome and indeed benefit from such challenges
in the sector."
The person responsible for arranging the release of this
information is Louise George, Chief Financial Officer of the
Company.
For further details:
Belvoir Group PLC 01476 584900
Dorian Gonsalves, Chief Executive Officer investorrelations@belvoirgroup.com
Louise George, Chief Financial Officer
www.belvoirgroup.com
finnCap
Julian Blunt, Teddy Whiley (Corporate
Finance)
Tim Redfern (ECM)
www.finncap.com +44 (0) 20 7220 0500
Buchanan +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Charles Ryland, Victoria Hayns & Tilly
Abraham
Notes:
About Belvoir Group PLC
Founded in 1995 and listed on AIM in 2012 (BLV.L), Belvoir
operates a nationwide property franchise group with 396 offices
across five brands specialising in residential lettings, property
management, residential sales and property-related financial
services. With its Central Office in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the
Group manages 68,550 properties and reported record revenues of
GBP19.3m in 2019 making Belvoir the largest property franchise
group in the UK.
For further information, please visit: www.belvoirgroup.com
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END
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