Estate agency group LSL has reported record underlying profit in 2021 as a booming housing market saw its revenues soar.
The Newcastle-based group, whose brands including Your Move and Reeds Rains, has released a trading update for 2021 which show that group revenue is expected to increase by around 23% to £327m.
The company said it was expecting to see record group underlying profit, leaving it with net cash of £48.5m at the end of the year.
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LSL is now planning to use its strong balance sheet to further invest in its plans to grow in the financial services division. Its growth strategy will include investment in Pivotal Growth, a joint venture set up last year Pollen Street Capital to “buy and build” a leading national mortgage broker.
The company’s number of financial advisors increased by 273 during the year to top 2,850 and it said that its investment in financial services would deliver benefits in future years.
Elsewhere, operating margins in the company’s surveying division increased to 25%, with LSL saying it had benefitted from “operational efficiency and improved income per job”.
Low interest rates and a stamp duty holiday fuelled a buoyant housing market last year, with latest official figures showing a 10% rise in average sale prices.
LSL said the market was at record levels leading up to the stamp duty deadline at the end of last June but had slown afterwards and was around 7% lower by the end of the year than the equivalent period 12 months earlier.
During the year, LSL sold its 32.34% stake in property technology company TM Group and a near half-share in conveyanding firm TM Group. The combined acquisitions totalled £41.3m.
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