It's shaping up to be another game of two halves for real estate group LSL Property Services (LSL). First-half figures were skewed by the partial sale of the group's stake in online property company Zoopla last year, which brought with it a one-off £18m gain. That explains much of this year's sharp drop in pre-tax profits. An extra £2m in contingent acquisition costs didn’t help the bottom line either.
Chief executive Ian Crabb says trading should be easier in the second half, and the group is still on track to meet full-year market forecasts. For one, LSL is up against far easier comparatives thanks to a slower second half last year, and underlying trading is still strong. Revenues for lettings and financial services rose 11 per cent and 14 per cent respectively in the first half, despite a 6 per cent drop in housing transaction volumes as political uncertainty dragged on the market.