Purplebricks swings to loss in H1 but revenue rises

(Sharecast News) - Online estate agent Purplebricks reported a rise in first-half revenue on Thursday but said it swung to a loss on the back of restructuring costs.
Purplebricks said it had been a "challenging" half, with the number of properties coming onto the UK market falling to the lowest level in a decade as consumers adopted a 'risk off' mentality.

In the six months to the end of October, revenue rose 12.5% to £64.8m, with UK revenue down 3% to £47.1m as a 15% drop in the number of instructions was largely offset by a 12% increase in average revenue per instruction (ARPI).

The company posted a pre-tax loss of £3.4m compared to a profit of £3.2m the year before as it incurred costs related to its exits from the US and Australia markets, which it said were "going to plan". It is expected that both markets will be fully closed by the end of the financial year, it added.

Chief executive officer Vic Darvey said: "We are very pleased with the progress made in the period in light of the market backdrop. We've seen resilient trading in the first half, with our diverse revenue streams and strong ARPI growth improving the quality of earnings and balancing out declining market conditions.

"We end the first half having now stabilised the business and the significant losses incurred last year have now been reversed with the group enjoying profitable trading."

At 1030 GMT, the shares were up 1.9% at 105.53p.