Purplebricks reveals £52m losses and announces that it is to beat a retreat from America

| Rosalind Renshaw

Purplebricks announced an operating loss of £52.3m and this morning said it is to withdraw from the US. It is already closing its Australian business.

The group’s operating loss is up 88% from £27.8m last year, and comes despite group revenue up by 55% to £136.5m, with UK revenue up 21% to £90.1m.

Its pre-tax losses of almost £56m (£55,954,000) were up from over £29m (£29,190,000).

The online agent said that in the UK – where it describes itself in today’s results as a “category killer” – it made an operating profit of £5.3m, and said it has 76% of the online market share.

It also said that average revenue per instruction in the UK was up 6% to £1,243 in the year to April 30, and that it had completed on £10.4bn worth of UK property, saving customers £77m in commission.

Group chief executive Vic Darvey, who took over from co-founder Michael Bruce who quit the business in May, said: “It’s been another year of strong revenue growth and we continue to build a highly relevant disruptive brand and defensible position in the market.

“With a base of clear brand leadership in both the UK and Canada and a differentiated, technology-led proposition driving business model advantages, we now have a clear plan to unlock the next wave of growth and extend our market leadership.

“We have taken the difficult decisions to exit our businesses in both Australia and the US as it is very important that we now focus our resources on the UK and Canada, where we have a strong established presence and where there are significant opportunities to grow market share and deliver profitable growth for shareholders.

“Both exits will be conducted in an orderly manner with the expectation they will be completed by the end of 2019.”

The closure of its Australian business is resulting in an impairment charge of almost £41m (£40,837,000). In the US, the impairment charge is put at £53m (£53,082,000).

Purplebricks also said this morning that in the five years since it launched in the UK, “we have fundamentally changed the estate agency market”.

It said that its technology-led proposition would drive profitable growth “and enable us to take market share from traditional agents”. It reiterated its ambition to take 10% of the overall UK market, saying that it already had brand awareness of 96%, and a brand more familiar to UK consumers than any other estate agent brand.

Purplebricks said that its model is a clear “category killer”, and that it remains hugely focused on becoming the only place customers go to buy, sell and let their homes.

It added: “We are always available when most high street agents still stick to office hours.”

Purplebricks said that in the UK it sold – meaning SSTC, not exchanged or completed – 3.5 times more properties than the next largest agent.

In Australia and the US, Purplebricks has had to admit defeat. In Australia the business is being run down and closed, with a reported 800 properties in its portfolio, down from 1,000 listings a fortnight ago.

In the US, it said that while there is a “significant” opportunity to disrupt the market, “it would take substantially more management time and resources” than it could commit.

Group chairman Paul Pindar said this morning there would be no dividend.

City analyst William Packer of Exane BNPP said that Purplebricks’ UK revenue was 3% below what had been expected, adding that its disruptive business model “has taken some knocks but continues to grow market share in the UK albeit at a much reduced rate”.

Yesterday, Purplebricks shares ended 4% down on the day at 93p. In the first hour of trading today, they picked up almost 4%, to 96.5p.

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93 Comments

  1. Moveaside01
    July 3, 2019 at 07:04

    ‘Light blue touch paper’…..

    Report
    1. HonestJohn
      July 3, 2019 at 07:17

      What do you mean? The prophecy says that today is the day that the share price will soar!!!

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    2. Moveaside01
      July 3, 2019 at 07:31

      Never seen such a positive spin on a £50 million pound loss!

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      1. ValueCounts31
        July 3, 2019 at 08:09

        UK revenue increased from £74.4m to £90.01m = 21.1% increase

        Marketing costs increased from £21.4m to £26.7m = 24.8% increase

        Cost per instruction increase from £332 to £382 = 15.1% increase

         

        If you’re gaining disruptive traction in a market, isn’t the whole point revenue goes up and cost per instruction goes down??

        So in conclusion, their revenue is growing, but their marketing costs to acquire them is growing even faster 

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        1. Bless You
          July 3, 2019 at 08:54

          Does that £1100 include vat?

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        2. Mark Walker 2
          July 3, 2019 at 09:17

          Is that pre-Team GB sponsorship?

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    3. seenitall
      July 3, 2019 at 09:26

      The Chief ex must be delusional putting out a statement like that.    To invest in Pbrick you not only would have to be delusional but retarded.

      Its madness.  It should be criminal to run a business this way.

       

      Is there a running total of Pbricks losses for each year — are they upto £1/4 Billion yet in losses?

       

       

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      1. s71
        July 3, 2019 at 09:47

        the Chief Ex will say anything to glorify otherwise they are out of a job!!!!

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  2. ArthurHouse02
    July 3, 2019 at 07:27

    Um….Category killer? What exactly does this mean?

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    1. mrtickle
      July 3, 2019 at 08:46

      It means they’re killing the “proptech” category.

      They’re right.

      For once.

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      1. NotAdoctor32
        July 3, 2019 at 09:21

        How are they killing the ‘proptech’ category?  1000’s of agents use many different types of tech to aid their businesses every day.  They are killing the Online model perception if anything.

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  3. revilo
    July 3, 2019 at 07:28

    “we have fundamentally changed the estate agency market”.

    Yup – and not for the better!

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    1. Andtheyareoff
      July 3, 2019 at 10:02

      Should read “all of our UK profits have come from the poor clients that we have duped into beliveing we sold 88% of our instructions, taking their money for doing nothing”
      They have indeed changed the market!

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  4. AgencyInsider
    July 3, 2019 at 07:30

    £152 miilion cash in the bank last year. £62 million now.

    Net assets £150 million last year. £103 million now.

    Burn baby, burn.

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  5. smile please
    July 3, 2019 at 07:32

    Only 30 minutes to wait until the nose dive in the markets.

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    1. Moveaside01
      July 3, 2019 at 07:36

      I bet Woodford and Axel Springer’s cornflakes are going to be spat out at a high rate of knots when the markets open!

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    2. Retiredandrelaxed
      July 3, 2019 at 09:55

      As at 9.52 this morning, the share price is up 2.78% at 95.59p – go figure, as our American cousins say.  
       
      Still, so far not exactly soaring, as our prophet promised.

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      1. dave_d
        July 3, 2019 at 10:05

        Nobody knows if a stock is going to go up, down, sideways or in circles. You know what a fugazi is?”

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        1. smile please
          July 3, 2019 at 10:36

          *Fugayzi*, fugazi. It’s a whazy. It’s a woozie. It’s fairy dust. it doesn’t exist. It’s never landed. It is no matter. It’s not on the elemental chart. It’s not f*****g real.

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    3. Rich Buttersmead
      July 3, 2019 at 11:05

      That didn’t happen did it, smart a—!

      Report
  6. Countrybumpkin
    July 3, 2019 at 07:40

    ‘Always available’ when the high street closes. We have never got hold of you from dawn to dusk. Perhaps your folk are nocturnal and snooze all day during ‘business hours’ !

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  7. Anonymous Agent
    July 3, 2019 at 07:47
    Report
    1. Moveaside01
      July 3, 2019 at 07:59

      No actual comment?
      Well you don’t get anymore anonymous than that!

      Report
  8. Anonymous Agent
    July 3, 2019 at 07:48

    It turns out that PIE comments section can’t display laughing emojis! 🙂

    Report
  9. GPL
    July 3, 2019 at 07:51

     

    HEADLINE….

     

    Purplebricks delighted to announce a record breaking annual loss of over 50 MILLION POUNDS, confirming their strong and consistent track record of producing substantial annual losses.

     

    Industry watchers congratulated Purplebricks on their ability as outstanding loss makers, noting that Purplebricks are simply unmatched in their ability to deliver strong and consistent losses.

     

    Investors also applauded Purplebricks Share Price losses, again an effective loss making strategy delivering an outstanding drop in Purplebricks  share price.

     

    Well done Purplebricks – An outstanding result!

     

     

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    1. Moveaside01
      July 3, 2019 at 07:57

      V good GPL

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  10. EAMD172
    July 3, 2019 at 07:53

    Saving customers £77m in commission! Does anybody, anywhere have the figures for how many people pay PB and don’t sell? I wonder if that is taken into account. Pay now – get nothing! Where does that figure in their announcement? I would still bet that they do not complete on more than 55% of all their instructions. Now that IS a figure I’d like them to publish! WE HAVE MADE £40m FROM NOT SELLING YOUR HOME!! 32,000 people were mugged by PB last year into paying us £1,243 not to move. (Just using their stats of £90m revenue and £1243 per property; then taking an industry norm of 55% of completions to instructions) Come On PB publish your true figures if you’re that good!!!!

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    1. Moveaside01
      July 3, 2019 at 08:22

      Good point! According to Rightmove, approx 50% of properties listed in our main post code sector did not sell last year? So if PB also work on that equation, you do the maths? 

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    2. HighStreetAgent123
      July 3, 2019 at 10:44

      TwentyCi data mate.

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  11. The date & time sponsored by PIE is;
    July 3, 2019 at 07:58

    The magic 88% figure reappears for Purplebricks.

    In an entirely unrelated coincidence – that old TV series of LOST, started off good, sequencing random numbers as the foundation for its raison d’être and then it all got very sh.te, very quickly.  The producers chucked out some crazy twists like Polar Bears in the middle of a tropical jungle, with the same effect that PURP had in USA & AUS; they just didnt belong there and the audience bailed by the millions, never to return.

    THE END.

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  12. dantheman78
    July 3, 2019 at 08:31

    Quack quack

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    1. mrtickle
      July 3, 2019 at 08:48

      Shhhh, if we’re quiet he’ll come closer.

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      1. AgencyInsider
        July 3, 2019 at 09:02

        The duck seems to have flown (good) and is quacking in its old pond – look up purplebricks share chat on the London South East site.

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    2. revilo
      July 3, 2019 at 09:39

      Quack Quack seems to have done one… I wonder why??

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    3. s71
      July 3, 2019 at 09:54

      it always remind of this nursery song;
       
      five little ducks went swimming one day over the hills and faraway…………………..
       

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  13. FlyingSheep54
    July 3, 2019 at 08:34

    The £77m “saving” is based on a typical commission of 1.3% + VAT. They can’t even be truthful in their official statements to the stock market. I’d also love to know how much of the revenue was from people who did not sell.

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    1. PeeBee
      July 3, 2019 at 09:50

      FS54
       
      They can only have “saved” people money if they actually completed on the sale of their property. 
       
      Therefore NONE of the £77m can be attributed to unsold/withdrawn listings.

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      1. HonestJohn
        July 3, 2019 at 11:45

        In many cases I suspect they actually cost people money as those who didn’t sell probably went on to instruct a traditional agent who did sell their homes and, therefore, the seller ended up paying two fees.

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        1. Property Pundit
          July 3, 2019 at 18:44

          Good point not often mentioned.

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    2. HighStreetAgent123
      July 3, 2019 at 10:47

      Have a look at TwentyCi data mate it will tell you exactly how many completed.

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    3. Hillofwad71
      July 3, 2019 at 12:38

      Flying Sheep

      Noticed this week another franchisee at Ewemove has bitten the dust .

      Poole & Parkstone having lasted 4 years  instructions had  dwindled to 0 andnow closed

      I wonder what support Head Office offered ?

       

       

       

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  14. watchdog13
    July 3, 2019 at 08:40

    How on earth does this company have a market cap of nearly £300m?

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  15. RichardHill61
    July 3, 2019 at 08:50

    “It’s been another strong year of revenue growth”

    We only lost £56m!

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    1. Cornwell26
      July 3, 2019 at 10:47

      In the US and Australia … give it a year.

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  16. natural_selection
    July 3, 2019 at 09:30

    I think there’s a good chance most of you have got this wrong and I personally will be keeping a keen eye on the best time to move in and start buying shares.

     

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    1. Property Pundit
      July 3, 2019 at 09:46

      Brave.

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      1. smile please
        July 3, 2019 at 10:37

        Stupid more like.

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    2. seenitall
      July 3, 2019 at 10:17

      Natural_selection
      What level of loss do you think will be your key time to jump in?   tell us your secret plan?
      Well done on your optomisim ! its amazing. Im amazed  –    Go for it. dont wait. 

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    3. Cornwell26
      July 3, 2019 at 10:49

      An awful lot of people will be waiting for the right time to invest…. it will just be the grudge holders who dont and miss out. 

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  17. PeeBee
    July 3, 2019 at 09:47

    “…completed on £10.4bn worth of UK property, saving customers £77m in commission.”

    Okay – number crunching time here.

    Looking at what we can see.

    They listed 69892 properties in FY2019

    They charged an average of £1243 in FY2019.

    The average Asking Price of their listings register was fairly consistent in FY2019 at around £300000.

    They tell the world that traditional Agents charge 1.5%.

    SO…

    1.5% of £300000 – £4500

    Less their Fee (£1243)

    “Saving” per completed sale – £3257

    Total “savings” – £77m

    Divide by “saving” per completed sale (£3257)

    Approx number of completed sales – 23641

    Stated Listings (69892)

    Someone else want to do the maths on the conversion ratio?  My calculator can’t think for laughing.

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    1. Ostrich17
      July 3, 2019 at 09:53

      PeeBee  
       
      The £1243 is not listing fee – it is 56:44 listing:ancillary income  
       
      Listing is £696 – however, this obviously includes refunds, so the actual listing income is somewhere between £899-£1399(less vat).
       
      The other way to calculate is to take the total completed sales value of £10.4 billion and divide by average selling/asking price – PB don’t say which they use (my guess is asking price).

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      1. PeeBee
        July 3, 2019 at 10:10

        O17
         
        You are correct that it is not their “Fee” – I stand corrected on my use of that word.
         
        However – they state that their customers paid that amount, on average. 
         
        Therefore, it must be used as the figure to calculate “savings” from… surely?
         
        But feel free to play around with the figures as much as you like – I’ve parked them there for debate.
         
        Oh – and using your other formula for working out numbers, £10.4bn divided by their average listing price would be somewhere around 34,666 completed sales… or 46200 if you used the ‘national average’ for the period of around £225k…
         
        …but that would mean that the average PB customer would have discounted the price of their home by 25% – would it not?
         
        I bl00dy love statistics, me!

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        1. Ostrich17
          July 3, 2019 at 16:22

          Now that there is a new regime, the facts will slowly emerge:
           
          “Completed on £10.4 billion of UK property (FY 2018: £9.7 billion)” 
          Whether PB used sold or listed price is not the issue, what is interesting is that the value of completed sales has only increased by 7.2% over the previous year, despite listings increasing by 8.6% -strip out HPI and it looks like the conversion rate may be going backwards.
           
          “77% of listings sold (completed, exchanged or SSTC) within 12 months to April 2019”
           
          This,of course is TwentyCi data, but, before it makes the final audited report – there ought to be some questions asked of Grant Thornton, as to why SSTC is considered an appropriate metric for an Estate Agency Plc to use in presentations to investors.  

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        2. Ostrich17
          July 4, 2019 at 08:09

          PeeBee  
          If you stick to the simple statement made by PB that they completed on £10.4billion then the traditional NSNF agent would charge £10.4billion x 1.56% = £162,240,000 in commission.
           
          PB are claiming savings of £77,000,000 which means they charged £85,240,000 to sell £10.4billion property.
           
          We know their listing cost is somewhere between £899-£1399 and that is what they will have measured the savings against.
           
          And…. my calculator goes into meltdown !!!
           
          Conclusion – their savings/completed numbers do not add up.
           
           

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          1. The date & time sponsored by PIE is;
            July 4, 2019 at 09:27

            …….not that you would, but let’s not forget that they also charged for NOT selling umpteen £billion of property.

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            1. Ostrich17
              July 5, 2019 at 08:48

              It looks like PB have used the completed value of £10.4billion but applied “the savings” against their total income which seems bizarre !!

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  18. gardenflat
    July 3, 2019 at 09:50

    I’d be more excited with “PB announces that it is to beat a retreat from the UK”

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  19. Andtheyareoff
    July 3, 2019 at 09:56

    It really is time for someone to start asking the real questions, and getting genuine answers rather than the spin (read b**lsh*t) that PB keep churning out. What % of listings actually complete through PB, (not sold by another agent)? How many customers have been conned into parting with £1200+ for nothing? What % of SSTC actually exchanged? There is only one reason PB cant and wont release these numbers.

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    1. HighStreetAgent123
      July 3, 2019 at 10:54

      They have been released very openly mate, especially last year. Check TwentyCi and it will tell you the answers to all of the above.

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  20. GPL
    July 3, 2019 at 09:56

     

    NEW HEADLINE….

     

    Mystery surrounds escalating number of  Purplebricks “UNSOLD” Properties.

     

    Industry Watchers concerned regarding the number of Purplebricks Customers who paid Purplebricks upfront for their property sale yet remain unsold.

     

    Purplebricks apparently unable or unwilling to reveal the actual number of their customers who have paid for their property sale yet remain unsold or have withdrawn from Purplebricks and been left with a bill despite their property not being sold.

     

    It was notable from Purplebricks Annual Report to the City/Investors that despite huge losses amounting to over 50 Million Pounds, Purplebricks noted a figure of £77,000,000 as their estimate of “Commission Saved” by using Purplebricks instead of a Traditional High Street/Local Estate Agent. Yet Purplebricks failed to highlight the Millions of Pounds paid by Purplebricks Customers whereby their properties remained Unsold.

     

    So, the PURPLEBRICKS “CUSTOMER MILLIONS LOST” MYSTERY remains just that …….a Mystery which Purplebricks are unwilling or unable to resolve.

     

    Industry Watchers again noted that Purplebricks seemed able to provide “Positive Statistical Analysis Figures” yet unable to provide the simple figure of “How many Purplebricks Customers paid for their property to be sold, yet ended up with their property unsold?”.

     

    It seems that Purplebricks want to “bury bad news, which meant the consumer was actually being misled” ….said one Industry Watcher.

     

     

     

     

     

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    1. HighStreetAgent123
      July 3, 2019 at 10:56

      Keep an eye on 20Ci – all of these figures have been released. Last year admittedly but it will show you how many completed 🙂 

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      1. Property Pundit
        July 3, 2019 at 11:47

        Do you work for TwentyCi?

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        1. HighStreetAgent123
          July 3, 2019 at 15:44

          I wish, I’ve heard the guys there are on a fortune. Must be all the backhanders from Purplebricks. 

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          1. Cornwell26
            July 3, 2019 at 15:52

            I completely agree… must be some slight of hand going on!

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      2. Andtheyareoff
        July 3, 2019 at 12:12

        Higstreetagent123, you have stated several times that all the figures are on TwentyCi, perhaps I am being stupid but I am struggling to find them, maybe rather than keep posting the same thing you could just add a link so we can all see exactly what we want? I remain doubtful that these numbers will show exactly what everyone really wants to see: How many vendors didn’t sell after paying upfront? (how much has PB robbed from the public) How many of its listings did they actually sell themselves, not sold by another agent? (again money for nothing) What is their fall through rate? In short how many customers paid PB upfront, that actually completed with no help from another agent?
        88% seems ridiculous to anyone who works in the industry, espceially as on rightmove they are listing 3149 homes and have sold 1840, a conversion of 58% not including duplicates and fall throughs and sold by other agents. That took me a few seconds so i am curious as to where the other 30% of sales comes from, perhaps they have forgotten to list as sold 944 homes????
         
         

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        1. gardenflat
          July 3, 2019 at 12:37

          https://pbinvestmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/presentation/media_url/105/Findings_from_Twenty_Ci_Data_May_17_April_18.pdf

          Found this, any good?

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          1. PeeBee
            July 3, 2019 at 13:28

            Good spot, gardenflat – I’m going to enjoy playing with these!
             
            Now – when the latest figures are quietly released and hidden carefully under the purple rug…

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          2. AgencyInsider
            July 3, 2019 at 14:52

            All very pretty graphs – but almost zero information about methodology, data, sources, etc.

            In fact it appears nothing much more than an exercise in ‘proving’ whatever the paying clients wants ‘proved’.

            This TwentyCI outfit is making itself out to be some sort of authority in this field. If they want credibility they need to be far, far more transparent about how their ‘research’ leads to the conclusions.

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        2. Andtheyareoff
          July 3, 2019 at 14:04

          Helpful but hardly definitive? Looking at the chart on Instructed to exchange numbers I estimate 64,000 instructions and 39,000 exchanges which is nowhere near the 88% quoted.

          I also note that the Chart is titled “Instructions – SSTC notifications – exchanges, which would suggest many of these sales were through another agent after PB hadn’t sold them.

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        3. HighStreetAgent123
          July 3, 2019 at 15:43

          There are some serious stats that need to be cleared up there, I’d give TwentyCi a call if I were you.

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          1. PeeBee
            July 3, 2019 at 22:11

            Erm… I don’t think you’ll get anywhere with that one, HighStreetAgent123.

            This afternoon, I asked a TwentyCi rep for a copy of the data on Tw@tter.

            The response?

            “Afternoon, PeeBee. As this report has been paid for by the client we aren’t able to release this to any third party.”

            I said I’d just wait for the report to hit t’internet as per the one gardenflat gave us the link to above.

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            1. AgencyInsider
              July 4, 2019 at 06:25

              TwentyCI response is a kop out – and entirely predictable.

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  21. Mark Walker 2
    July 3, 2019 at 10:24

    Several things,
     
    1) Extracted from the published results: Note 7 “The content of the Purplebricks website should not be considered to form a part of or be incorporated into this announcement.”  Is this an admission that what appears on the Purplebricks website is easily proven boohockey?
     
    2) Why haven’t they published their glorious upbeat results on their Twitter feed for their customers to see how well they are performing?  
     
    3) Why does Bruce’s Twitter say he’s still CEO?  Is someone lying?  Again.
     
    4) In FY 2019, our average revenue per instruction increased to £1,243 (FY 2018: £1,168)?  How did they achieve that without putting their commission* charge up?  
     
    (*purely advertising only fee)
     
    5) Why would you own a single share in a business that wrote these sentences:  (under UK results) “Marketing cost per instruction (“CPI”) was £382 up from £332, which reflected an unsustainable level of marketing spend… necessitating a higher than normal level of communication of our value proposition in a shrinking market”?  (under Canada loss-making results) “Overall marketing spend in FY 2019 increased from the prior year when the business was under previous ownership.”  You have to keep spending more than is sustainable or fall in to obscurity???

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    1. HighStreetAgent123
      July 3, 2019 at 10:59

      4) The charge was put up… all over the UK and in London… as was the price of their accompanied viewings package…

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      1. Mark Walker 2
        July 3, 2019 at 11:25

        In November, yes.  Something that they leave out of the results…

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  22. Hillofwad71
    July 3, 2019 at 10:43

    A generally lethargic update This is a company in flux .
     
    Chance for the CEO  to announce exciting changes in the UK to compensate for the disastrous  trip abroad effectively  paid by  Axel Springer
     
    However nothing ,nada  just a load of piffle.
    Bricks -the idea was good but as is the way of all service industries its down to the people. Populated from Day 1 by mates of the  Bruces and ex employees from Burchell Edwards.
    They might know their way around Stratford Road but little else Punching well above their weight.
    This is going to be an expensive shell for somebody to attempt to lift this up a few platforms
      All change by the end of the month Worth buying some  shares  !!!

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  23. AgentV
    July 3, 2019 at 12:53

    If 3,000 independent agents, all part of a network, were willing to market collectively for new business at a cost of say £250 for each new instruction gained (payable on successful sale completion)…bet that would soon blow any ‘call centre lister’ marketing away….especially if it was done intelligently.

    Just need the start up capital!

    £3,000,000 would do it.

    BSOS23PC

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    1. smile please
      July 3, 2019 at 14:08

      Take a look down the side of the sofa 😉

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  24. AgentQ73
    July 3, 2019 at 14:14

    Can someone more intelligent than me expand on this

    “The closure of its Australian business is resulting in an impairment charge of almost £41m (£40,837,000). In the US, the impairment charge is put at £53m (£53,082,000).”

    Is this what they expect it to cost to shut them down or is it a write off ?

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    1. Propertyboy
      July 3, 2019 at 15:45

      It is the cost of writing off worthless goodwill or assets…

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      1. AgentQ73
        July 3, 2019 at 16:16

        So they over valued it and then couldn’t sell it, how ironic.

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        1. Propertyboy
          July 3, 2019 at 16:59

          Exactly – but then isn’t that their MO when it comes to taking peoples money, over-valuing their properties and then not selling them 😉

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  25. Woodentop
    July 3, 2019 at 18:59

    Do the claims by PB in this press release now mean that someone has taken the trouble to look at EU Market Abuse Regulation an covering the gapping holes? They have for the first time clarified sold as not being sold but SSTC, something they have not done before. It does matter to an investor who believes that his investment is at risk if revenue is likely to be seriously affected. The public have been kept quiet about how successful PB are or are not for years and it is pretty obvious to anyone that once they find out that they are not selling what MB was always claiming, IS FALSE, will adversely affect consumer confidence and a reduction in income.      
     
     
    Most press release by PB have been glossed and the question is, have they been misleading to the consumer and the markets? To now claim …..    
     
    “We are always available when most high street agents still stick to office hours.” is false according to customer reviews and LPE’s.    
     
    “we have fundamentally changed the estate agency market”. By doing what? This is a false claim if it is a claim to have improved and is time that the claims they make in their advertising are like high street agents is false? Consumers claiming under sold and contracts that offer no incentive by the agent to achieve best possible price as required by The Estate Agency Act. Relisting properties that erode the truth of listed properties. Poor working conditions for LPE’s, who are often not local? PB have fundamentally changed estate agency, for the worse?      
     
     
    High Street agents are the MARKET LEADERS have been using better and more complex IT decades before PB was conceived and many were already charging the same fees around the UK, some even less. PB an upfront, no refund listing brand for private sellers (breach of web portal contracts?) with web portal advertising. The high street agencies have not only been full service web portal advertising they have been using press (varied outlets), social media advertising of properties, high street presence and local consumer support by dedicated local companies who can communicate with all levels of the public, particularly those that  are disadvantaged by no IT access, all on a no sale no fee basis. If PB claim or misrepresent they are the same as the high street agents, it would be FALSE.      
     
     
    It has been suggested for the last few years that the figure of PB  failure to sell is likely to be around the 50% mark. The sooner this is cleared up is better for consumer protection.      
     
     
    The sooner that PB are taken to account over using national figures for a brand, which is only a network of independent self employed LPE’s that can be compared with all agents on an area by area presence, the better.  
     
     
    Right Move and The Property Academy says over 1m listings, 25,000 branches and 15,000 agencies. That puts PB right down at the bottom of the leguae table. PB @ less than 4% of market now claims the big number £10.4bn worth of UK property. Try multiplying 95% of the market worth sold by the high street … PB claim is  insignificant! 
     
     
    The sooner the public and investors are made aware of the true facts and less spin, the argument over COMMISSARY and PB claims can be settled.
     
    PB share price dropped to 92p and ended back where it started this morning at 95p. Oh dear “The Prophet”, it didn’t sky rocket and noticeable by your absence, is the Duck. 

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    1. GPL
      July 3, 2019 at 19:02

       

      Good points Woodentop

       

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  26. GPL
    July 3, 2019 at 19:28

     

    The use SSTC by Purplebricks to “massage” their figures is simply wrong on so many levels, it’s completely & utterly misleading and frankly it begs the question – Who actually/actively Polices financial statements & statistics which clearly require clarification/investigation.

    For instance, if High Street Supermarkets have to label foodstuffs with their contents/allergy warnings etc, surely there must be regulation about how UK Property Statistics are portrayed/manipulated and Warnings/Clarification about what particular terms actually mean when viewed legally. After all, do UK Companies not have a legal duty to provide investors/shareholders with information/statistics which meet a legal/unambiguous threshold?

    Every Professional Estate Agent in the United Kingdom knows that SSTC is NOT the same as a Property being SOLD/Purchase Price Paid/Sale Registered at Land Registry.

    Using SSTC in an Annual Company Report seems to me a clear manipulation of the term/phrase “Properties Sold” …..unless there is a “Warning” clearly explaining that a property marked/noted SSTC is NOT legally/physically SOLD.

    When any consumer is led into making a financial decision/expenditure based on information which is misleading, whether intentional or otherwise, there must be an “Official/Government” Authority capable of investigating and taking action if lines are crossed (ie VW   Fuel Consumption Scandal!).

    So, in my view, I read a Financial Statement today that is at the very least ambiguous in how it portrays it performance within the UK Property Market. Where is my Complaint Addressed?

     

     

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    1. Retiredandrelaxed
      July 3, 2019 at 20:37

      Not only that but if you count “SSTC” as “Sold”, you have the opportunity to count a property as Sold more than once, as far as your figures are concerned if an agreed sale (SSTC) falls through and is re-agreed.

       

      PB’s claim is that they “sell” 80% odd of the properties on which they are instructed. They have now confirmed that “sell” means SSTC, exchanged or completed. Hopefully they don’t count a single property as 3 sales for their figures (once each for SSTC, Exchanged and Completed). Even so, if one accepts that they agree sales on 80% of their properties, a 30% percent fall through rate brings you back to an Instruction to Exchange/Completion ratio of close to 50%

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      1. PeeBee
        July 4, 2019 at 00:04

        Retiredandrelaxed I’ll try and post this before ‘Michelle Lockwood’ trundles into EYE like a drunken skunk with a flatulence problem – after all she hasn’t called me an idiot for a while and I’m kinda missing her pouring all that affection on me.
         
        For the last 4-and-a-bit years I have nurtured a rather unhealthy interest in the statistical *********** (credit: Jonnie) of certain CCILF companies – the subject company of this article being one of them.
         
        I have recorded figures in several ways – always finding ‘newer and better’ methods in the hope of untangling their webs of statistical creativity.  The old days of relying on ‘snow in July’ on listings to whisper to me that the property just may have been originally listed a wee bit earlier in the year… or the year before, even – are in the past.  I’m now pretty hardcore at checking 200-odd “Just added” listings every morning at around 7am and spotting the wrong’uns quick as you can say “#CONmisery”.
         
        Just as well – by my reckoning there have been over 7500 this year so far… and I haven’t got “a proxy” either!
         
        Quite recently a PB customer vented her anger and frustration on Trustpilot, stating that after twelve months of being on the market, and FIVE aborted sales, she had finally given up and was going to instruct a High Street Agent.Even positive reviews are littered with comments along the lines of “…we lost our buyer after x weeks but Petunia/Antoine secured us a new buyer immediately…”.
         
        But what I can’t understand is how, in a period of just over two months, can almost 100 “sales” fall through in one place?
         
        In fairness, it’s not a small place I’m referring to – there are currently some 35,000 properties on the market of which around 16000 are “Under Offer/SSTC” according to Rightmove – so some might think that ninety-odd fall-throughs isn’t a lot… even if that equates to over 500 in a year if the pattern continues.
         
        But when that ‘one place’ is called Scotland, surely alarm bells start ringing in more people’s heads than mine that things ain’t exactly running like clockwork?

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        1. Retiredandrelaxed
          July 4, 2019 at 10:29

          No wonder their stats and “conversion rates” look so good. In the example you have given (FIVE aborted sales), I presume that that one would count as five properties sold, even though it is quite possible that PB never actually sold, as in exchanged and completed, the property. In isolation, that would give 1 instruction converting to 5 sales or a conversion rate of 500%!

           

          If, in Purpleworld, it is possible to “sell” more properties than you take instructions on, the claimed 81% or 88% (or whatever) Instruction to Sold ratio looks rather paltry!

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          1. PeeBee
            July 4, 2019 at 12:07

            “In isolation, that would give 1 instruction converting to 5 sales or a conversion rate of 500%!”

            An instruction that has already been paid for but will never sell via PB as the lady said she is instructing another Agent.

            “If, in Purpleworld, it is possible to “sell” more properties than you take instructions on, the claimed 81% or 88% (or whatever) Instruction to Sold ratio looks rather paltry!”

            Yup.

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  27. GeorgeOrwell
    July 3, 2019 at 23:02

     

    You’ve got to give credit to both the American & Australian Housing Market Consumers – they saw through the fake offering that Purplebricks were serving up and shunned them so swiftly & effectively that Purplebricks simply fled, hurriedly switching off the lights, closing the door and shuffling quietly away with multi-million dollar losses, albeit those dumped Purplebricks consumers were duped losers too, having paid for a service spectacularly unfulfilled

    Is the UK Housing Consumer so gullible that they fail to recognise the Commisery Fakery, or do they have a slower reaction time than the US & Auz Consumer

    Purplebricks has proved a spectacular failure to the tune of multi-millions, Witness for the Prosecution – both US & Auz Consumer. Surely the UK Consumer can’t continue this Purple sleepwalk

    At least my clients can sleep soundly tonight knowing they can trust me to serve them, and I only charge when I successfully deliver a Sale – that is clearly defined as being Sold/Exchanged/Purchase Price PAID, then I have earned my fee!

     

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  28. SLF
    July 4, 2019 at 12:11

    Easy to see how the high street is facing such challenges at the moment. Most of the agents seems to be on here worrying about and slating their competition instead of getting on with selling houses. What is it with your obsession with PB!?

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    1. Woodentop
      July 4, 2019 at 21:28

      Simple really. PB are not the same as High Street Agents and claims they are and any association in league tables is intended to smoke screen the true facts for their own financial gain and not representative to work in the best interests of their customers.

       

       

      The High Street agents are people with souls, most are dedicated to the extreme of providing a service to be proud of, it is not a job, it is a vocation. Along comes PB saying they are the same, openly wanting to put the high street out of business, spin and misrepresent and goings on that appear to High Street Agents, look everything bad that estate agency industry has strived to improve upon, often been wrongly accused.

       

       

      The high street knows what the customer wants and in the main delivers it, through hard work, often beyond the call of duty and commitment to achieve a sale, for without it, they don’t get paid. PB are an affront to good agents and are only motivated in listing a property with no incentive to achieve a sale or the best possible price.

       

      This is what KB posted on PB own web site …….

       

      Estate agents are right up there with bankers, when it comes to the UK public choosing which professions they dislike the most.

      Greed is a common gripe about bankers – paying themselves massive bonuses, even when the bank they are working for has made a huge loss. Where is the logic in that?

      There are some very good estate agents up and down the country but unfortunately many fall into the ‘I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them’ category.

      The most common issues, just like bankers, are all to do with a lack of trust and a feeling that they have little motivation beyond maximising their own income stream.

      The estate agency market is huge – worth well over £7 billion a year in the UK, just in sales and letting fees.

      So here are the most common ways that estate agents really get up the nose of the Great British public:

       

      Overvaluing a property to get the instruction, when they know the likelihood of being able to achieve that price is virtually nil.
      After your home has been on the market a while, the person who was so eager to take your calls to begin with has suddenly lost the ability to return a phone call.
      Over-zealous selling of ‘other services’ with the implication that if you don’t take them, you will not be treated quite as well.
      Lack of transparency about potential buyers’ or tenants’ feedback – they say what you want to hear rather than the truth.
      Promises about people on their database that want a property exactly like the one you want to sell or rent out, only for these people never to materialise.
      The costs – which for the vast majority of the time bear no relation to the time spent by the estate agent working for you. We estimate that on the average house with an average fee, estate agents are getting paid the equivalent of over £800 an hour.

       
      Kenny Bruce – 20 March 2014

      Now read PB customer reviews … was he actually talking about himself and his business? Love the bit about bankers paying themselves, how much has Bruce and Co made for themselves with huge losses !!!!!!

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  29. Rory Naughton Leeds
    July 4, 2019 at 13:28

    Wish I was rich enough to lose 52 Million…….

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