Purplebricks reports '83% instruction growth' in UK

Purplebricks has this morning issued its latest trading update, reporting what it calls "strong growth" in the UK and updating investors on its international activities.

The trading report reads:

"Trading in the UK has been strong, with year-on-year instruction growth in the second half of the financial year up 83%. As a result the UK business is expected to record an adjusted EBITDA profit for the full year, building on the UK’s £0.3m reported adjusted EBITDA in the first half.

"Progress in Australia continues to be very encouraging with recent launches in Perth and Adelaide, adding to the existing states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. With average revenue per listing exceeding A$5,000, Purplebricks estimates that Australian customers save an average of over A$12,000 in estate agents’ fees when compared with a traditional commission structure.

"The recruitment of high quality Local Property Experts (LPEs) remains a central element of the strategy. At the end of April there were 525 LPEs, of which 448 were in the UK (32 having just graduated at the end of April) and 77 in Australia, exceeding the target set in January 2016 of 360. Notwithstanding the rapid growth across the business, customer service levels have remained strong. In the last 12 months the number of Trustpilot reviews have risen from 5,000 to over 17,100, with the average score edging up from 9.4 to 9.5 out of 10.

"With continued progress across the business the Company is on course to meet the board’s full year expectations."

Commenting on the update, Michael Bruce, Group Chief Executive, said:

“This has been a year of great progress across the board. The UK business continues to go from strength-to-strength and the decision to increase marketing spend in the spring market has been successful. We have demonstrated that the business model works, with the first expected full year profit in the UK, while our early success in Australia highlights our ability to execute and the broad appeal of the Purplebricks customer proposition.

“US plans are progressing well, and our learnings from rolling out in the UK and Australia, coupled with the recent £50m fund raising position us well for a launch in the second half of 2017. We are confident in our future and excited about our global opportunity.”