M Winkworth PLC on Wednesday declared a higher dividend alongside a profit and revenue surge with a rosy outlook as it noted ‘exciting’ growth plans outside of London for 2025.
The London-based franchisor of real estate agencies said pretax profit jumped 26% to £1.0 million in the first half of 2024 from £811,000 a year ago.
Revenue grew 21% to £5.1 million from £4.3 million. Gross revenue of the franchised network picked up 5.7% on-year to £27.9 million from £26.4 million.
‘Despite interest rates remaining relatively high in the first half of this year, 2024 has to-date been very encouraging. An increase in sellers coming to the market has drawn out demand from buyers and this, combined with more positive economic news, has led to far better conditions than 2023, when uncertainty over the outlook for interest rates weighed on activity,’ said Chief Executive Officer Dominic Agace.
Administrative costs increased 21% to £3.3 million from £2.7 million, while cost of sales increased 13% to £880,000 from £776,000.
M Winkworth declared an interim dividend of 6.0 pence per share, up 3.4% from 5.8p a year ago.
‘Now that the election is behind us and a government with a strong majority is now in place, ending years of political uncertainty, and with interest rates set to decline, early indications suggest that activity in the property market will increase,’ said CEO Agace.
He added: ‘In the lettings market, we see more uncertainty as the market awaits the implementation of new legislation. We anticipate that there will be a further reduction in supply as landlords exit the market and aren’t replaced, particularly in the short term as some look to speed up their exit in anticipation of increases in capital gains tax.’
Simon Agace, chair of the company and father of CEO Dominic Agace, said he has great confidence ‘in Winkworth’s long-term growth prospects. We have extended our network in the London boroughs and some of these extra offices result from expansion by our existing franchisees - we expect this trend to continue. Outside of London, areas such as Exeter, Reading and Norfolk have exciting growth plans for 2025.’
M Winkworth shares rose 2.0% to 206.95 pence each on late Wednesday morning in London.
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