Foxtons Group PLC on Thursday said total revenue increased slightly in its latest quarter, with a mixed but broadly ‘robust’ outlook for the rest of the year.

The stock was down 7.9% at 35.00 pence on Thursday afternoon in London.

The London-based estate agency said revenue rose in the third quarter of 2023 to £43.9 million from £43.8 million the year before.

For its Lettings arm, revenue increased 8% to £31.6 million from £29.2 million. Sales revenue, however, decreased 17% to £9.9 million, while Financial Services revenue fell 13% to £2.4 million.

Foxtons also said that over the first nine months of 2023, total revenue increased 5% to £114.8 million from £108.9 million, while Lettings revenue rose 18% to £81.3 million from £68.6 million. Sales revenue fell 18% to £26.9 million while Financial Services fell 12% to £6.6 million.

‘We have delivered a third consecutive quarter of market outperformance as operational upgrades take effect,’ said Chief Executive Officer Guy Gittins. ‘Our investment in fee earners, training, data and brand is yielding results sooner than I expected...Market share gains across Lettings, Sales and Financial Services have enabled us to grow revenue year-to-date despite reduced sales market transaction volumes, a result of the higher interest rate environment.’

Foxtons said that as predicted in its interim results, rental price growth rates moderated compared to the first half. This reflected ‘more normalised supply and demand dynamics.’

Looking ahead, Foxtons expects a robust performance in the fourth quarter with the supply of available rental properties likely to improve, although year-on-year rental increases are expected to moderate. It said sales revenue will be lower than last year, but buyer demand will ‘outpace Q4 2022 levels, which was heavily impacted by the September 2022 mini-budget.’

Consequently, it expects the under-offer pipeline at December 31 to be ‘significantly higher than the prior year, which will drive year-on-year revenue growth in the first quarter of 2024,’ and full-year earnings to be in line with consensus.

Gittins commented: ‘The operational progress made to date, and our continued focus on growing non-cyclical and recurring revenues to decouple earnings from sales market volatility, gives me confidence that we will continue to deliver against our strategic priorities and medium-term profit ambitions.’

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