True to its word, LSL Property Services (LSL) rewarded shareholders with a special dividend of 16.5p a share from the £19.8m exceptional profit it made by selling just under half its stake in Zoopla (ZPLA). Along with an increased ordinary payout, that takes the yield up to a mouth-watering 9.9 per cent.
Strip out the windfall gain from the portal's flotation and underlying operating profit rose 13 per cent to £42m. The estate agency side enjoyed a buoyant first half, with volumes up 19 per cent, followed by a 7 per cent decline in the second half. Even so, operating profit here rose by 16 per cent to £33.9m. But the group's results would have been significantly higher without a £24.6m provision for professional indemnity claims.
A levelling off in mortgage approvals left operating profit from surveying marginally ahead at £13.3m. While the number of surveys carried out fell 6 per cent, revenue per survey was higher, leaving total revenue up 3 per cent at £62.2m. The lettings business also performed well: excluding central London agent Marsh & Parsons, income grew 20 per cent to £76.8m.
Analysts at Jefferies are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profit of £39.7m and EPS of 29.6p in 2015.
| LSL PROPERTY SERVICES (LSL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 290p | MARKET VALUE: | £302m | |
| TOUCH: | 288-290p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 456p | LOW: 264p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.2% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 80p* | NET DEBT: | 42% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 207 | 36.0 | 33.6 | 8.4 |
| 2011 | 218 | 17.6 | 12.9 | 8.7 |
| 2012 | 244 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 9.5 |
| 2013 | 259 | 17.1 | 13.6 | 10.5 |
| 2014 | 287 | 31.9 | 24.5 | 12.3** |
| % change | +11 | +87 | +80 | +17 |
Ex-div: 26 Mar Payment: 7 May *Includes intangible assets of £152m or 146p a share **Not including special dividend of 16.5p a share | ||||
