City briefs: Belvoir Group; Travis Perkins
Grantham-based estate agency group Belvoir has reported “exceptionally strong” trading for the six months to June 30.
The firm says that revenue during the six months to 30 June 2021 was up 41% on 2020, which had been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and up 53% on 2019 (42% on a like-for-like basis), with substantial revenue growth across both divisions on the back of a “very buoyant” housing market.
In comparison to H1 2019, the property division achieved revenue growth of 45%, of which 25% represented growth in the underlying business and 20% from the group’s investment in two additional franchise networks, Lovelle in January 2020 and Nicholas Humphreys on 31 March 2021.
Meanwhile, the financial services division reported revenue up 62% on H1 2019 through organic growth of the adviser network.
Dorian Gonsalves, CEO of Belvoir Group, said: “We continue to see exceptionally strong trading across the group, well ahead of our expectations as at the start of the year. Our residential property sales hit a peak in June and pipelines remain strong. Lettings has achieved growth from increased rental activity and tenant demand creating an upward pressure on rents.
“Our financial services division continues to go from strength to strength, benefitting from the strong sales market and our enlarged network of advisers.
“The board has continued to pursue its growth strategy in H1 through the acquisition of Nicholas Humphreys, increasing the footprint of our property franchise division, along with the strengthening of our long-term strategic partnership with The Nottingham Building Society through the acquisition of its mortgage business, Nottingham Mortgage Services Limited. Both acquisitions will be highly accretive in 2021 and demonstrate the Board’s commitment to enhancing shareholder value further.”
Northampton-based Travis Perkins has seen revenues soar during its first half to the end of June.
Revenues were up by 37.7% to £2.23bn, while adjusted operating profit was running at £164m – a huge rise on the £17m posted last year.
Nick Roberts, chief executive officer, said: “Our businesses have continued to play a critical role in the construction sector’s ongoing recovery and, while some uncertainty still remains, the end markets for our trade-focused businesses remain robust.
“As a result, I am cautiously optimistic around the outlook for the business and confident in our ability to make further progress in the second half of the year. We look forward to updating shareholders on our future plans in September.”
