Foxtons gets ‘relief bounce’ despite hard time in London

Estate agent Foxtons offered some respite for shaken investors on Wednesday as it claimed that sales were weathering a “challenging” London market.

The firm — whose shares hit all-time lows of 63.5p last week, having been floated by Credit Suisse and Numis for 230p in September 2013 — had revenues of £35.1 million between July and September, still off last year’s £37.5 million but in line with management hopes.

Foxtons, which is famed for its Minis and high-pressure sales tactics, is battling against a combination of stamp duty rises and uncertainty inspired by general elections and the Brexit vote, along with the rise of online rivals such as Purplebricks.

The City built up a huge bet against the company last month, with nearly 10% of its shares on loan with short-sellers hoping to profit from a fall.

That punt has been largely closed out in recent weeks amid signs of stabilisation on the wider property scene. If the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, delivers stamp duty relief for first-time buyers in his Budget next month, as has been speculated, it could be a further boost to the market, although dearer London property means Foxtons could miss out if a stamp duty holiday is limited to homes of £250,000 or less.

Chief executive Nic Budden said: “This was a resilient third-quarter performance when set against the challenging conditions in the London property market.”

Shares jumped 4.75p, or 7%, to 77.75p today, partly on short-sellers buying shares but also on relief that trading had not deteriorated further.

Peel Hunt analyst Gavin Jago said: “There’s been a hell of a lot of uncertainty this year and the shares have been bottomed out, so this is a bit of a relief bounce.”

Total revenues for the nine months so far were down 12% to £93.7 million, with lettings revenues only marginally lower at £22.5 million.

Transaction takings fell from £12.3 million to £10.3 million.