Profits accelerate in property group’s record year

Profits at property group Belvoir will be “comfortably ahead” of expectations after a successful year which included two acquisitions.

Belvoir bought student lettings business Nicholas Humphreys in April and Nottingham Mortgage Services, the mortgage arm of The Nottingham Building Society, in June.

Belvoir chief executive Dorian Gonsalves said the group “continues to identify suitable acquisition targets” to support its growth strategy.

The additions last year, alongside strong performances across the group, resulted in revenues increasing 36% to a record £29.6m.

It also expects pre-tax profits to be better than expected when it reports its full financial figures in April. In 2020 Belvoir generated profits of £6.7m.

“All of the group’s business units performed exceptionally well in 2021, ensuring that our franchisees and advisers were best-placed to take advantage of a strong property market,” said Gonsalves.

The group’s residential sales transactions were up 41% on 2020 and were 22% ahead of the pre-pandemic long-term average.

Revenue from the property division was up by £3.2m to £15.2m, with the acquisition of the Nicholas Humphreys network added £2.2m from its 17 franchised and three corporate-owned offices.

Its financial services division added £4.7m of revenue and is now nearly the same size as Belvoir’s property division. It benefitted from the buoyancy in the residential property sales market throughout most of 2021, and towards the end of the year experienced a strong period for remortgage activity.

The group reduced its net debt by almost two thirds to £1.3m, despite having deployed £4.7m of cash on corporate acquisitions.

Gonsalves added: “With our significant recurring lettings revenue stream and our substantial financial services client base to draw upon during what is currently a strong market for remortgages, we believe the group is well insulated from what could be a more challenging market in 2022.”