London-focused estate agent and letting agency Foxtons (FOXT) expects cash profits for 2016 to be down by nearly half, at £25m. Most of the decline reflects a sharp fall in transactional volume in higher-priced London properties, and if conditions fail to improve Foxtons believes sales activity in 2017 will be lower still.
94p
Lettings revenues have remained more resilient, benefiting from higher levels of renewals, despite lower levels of new tenant activity and some downward pressure on rents. This side of the business now accounts for over half of group revenue, but could come under threat from proposals to ban letting fees charged on tenants. Analysts at Peel Hunt estimate that this could trim profits by £3m.
