Financial summary
· Group revenue up 4.1% to £149.8m (2014: £143.9m)
· Group Adjusted EBITDA reduced by 0.4% to £46.0m (2014: £46.2m)
· Group Adjusted EBITDA margin of 30.7% (2014: 32.1%)
· Profit before tax reduced by 2.6% to £41.0m (2014: £42.1m)
· Net free cash flow up 17.1% to £32.0m (2014: £27.3m)
· Total dividends proposed for the year of 11.0p per share up 13.4% (2014: 9.70 p) , equivalent to £30.8m (2014: £27.3m)
· £73.5m in total dividends returned to shareholders since IPO in September 2013
· Share buy-back programme commenced 16 December 2015 with 0.5m shares (£0.9m) purchased by year end. Post year end a further 6.6m shares (£11.1m) were purchased.
Operational summary
· Revenue growth across all segments (Sales +3.4%, Lettings +2.3%, Mortgage broking +31.8%)
· Both Sales and Lettings segments operating at Adjusted EBITDA margins in excess of 30%
· A strong lettings business generating 46% of Group revenue providing a balance to the naturally more cyclical sales market
· Continued successful organic expansion with seven new branches opened in 2015, bringing the total at year end to 58 branches
· Seven further branches secured for 2016
Commenting on today's statement, Nic Budden, Chief Executive Officer said:
The Company performed well during 2015 generating revenue growth across all business segments. Our market leading position in London and strong customer proposition enabled us to significantly outperform in a sales market which was slow to recover post the General Election of May 2015.
Our successful branch expansion has supported growth as well as providing us with a wider, stronger network across London. We finished the year with 58 branches, of which over 80% are now outside central London (Zone 1). Since the year end, we have opened a further four new branches with three more scheduled for later in the year.
This positive performance, together with our strong cash flow generation, has enabled a 13.4% increase in total dividends proposed of 11.0p per share.
Looking ahead, the London residential property market continues to be highly attractive both in terms of sales and lettings although it is too early to predict how transaction volumes may be impacted by recent changes to the tax regime and the short term political and economic uncertainty caused by the UK referendum on leaving the European Union. We have entered the new year with an encouraging sales pipeline, a strong lettings book and a clear strategy for further growth through our organic branch expansion.
