Estate agent Countrywide (CWD) had a mixed first half. Housing transactions nosedived due to uncertainty over the outcome of the UK general election, driving down cash profits from the estate agency arm by 84 per cent to £1.1m. But diversity in the revenue stream meant that group cash profits were down a more acceptable 9 per cent at £41m.
There are some signs that housing sales are starting to recover, notably in London where total income was down just 2 per cent. Other brighter spots included the surveying business, where cash profits increased by 59 per cent to £7.6m. This growth reflected new surveying business won from Santander and Barclays, which helped to boost surveys completed by 9 per cent, while average fees rose by 6 per cent.
Given the weak transaction volumes in the first half, Countrywide expects full-year transactions to be marginally lower than in the previous year. Headline profits were distorted by last year's exceptional £14.6m gain from the sale of part of its stake in Zoopla, as well as exceptional costs this year of £5.7m, incurred through acquisition and restructuring activity.
Analysts at Numis have revised down their full-year estimates to adjusted pre-tax profits of £103.9m and adjusted EPS of 36.1p (from £102.4m and 35.7p in 2014).
| COUNTRYWIDE (CWD) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 518p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.14bn | |
| TOUCH: | 518-518.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 608p | LOW: 404p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.9%* | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 242p** | NET DEBT: | 39% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 326 | 39.0 | 15.0 | 5 |
| 2015 | 329 | 13.3 | 4.6 | 5 |
| % change | +1 | -66 | -70 | - |
Ex-div: 10 Sep Payment: 9 Oct *Excludes 2014 special dividend of 9p a share | ||||
