Foxtons income drops again thanks to Brexit and fees ban

Foxtons' latest trading statement shows another fall in sales revenue - but this time lettings income is down too.

In an announcement this morning it says that sales revenue has dropped another 15 per cent thanks to “ongoing political uncertainty continued to weigh on volumes and prices in the London residential sales market. A combination of lower volumes, falling prices and fewer high value sales meant that sales revenue for the quarter was down 15 per cent to £8.4m (Q3 2018: £9.9m).”

On the lettings side of the business - until now growing, in some form of balance to the long-term deterioration in the company’s sales performance - the statement this morning reveals a four per cent drop in revenue.

The firm says: “Improvements to our lettings offer and our decision to not increase fees to landlords following the tenant fee ban has enabled us to grow market share, improve revenue from landlords and increase the penetration of our property management services. Notwithstanding this pleasing progress, as expected the tenant fee ban which came into force on 1 June 2019, resulted in lower revenue for Q3, down four per cent to £22.1m (Q3 2018: £23.1m).”

Foxtons' revenue from mortgages through its Alexander Hall subsidiary remained static at £2.1m, the same as at this point last year.

Overall these efforts take group revenue for the third quarter down seven per cent to £32.5m (Q3 2018: £35.1m). 

Group revenue for the first nine months of the year is £83.6m, down five per cent on the prior year (2018: £88.1m).

Foxtons' chief executive officer Nic Budden says to shareholders and the City: "Overall, this was a resilient performance set against the London sales market which continues to deteriorate and the impact of the tenant fee ban on our lettings business. 

"We are encouraged by landlords' reaction to our improved lettings offer and are confident we can continue to gain share in the London lettings market. 

"We continue to manage costs tightly to ensure the business is well-placed to withstand this prolonged market downturn and are confident that this, coupled with our improved overall offer, positions us well for the future."

Foxtons will issue a pre-close trading update in January ahead of its full year 2019 results at the end of February.