The troubled online estate agents Purplebricks – which has been increasing its market share in Scotland – has bounced back with revenues for the year up 55% to £136.5 million from £87.8 million. However, the company has pulled back on its North American roll-out as it announces its strategic withdrawal from the United States, while remaining in Canada.
Gross profit has jumped to £79.9 million from £49.6 million, however the firm posted an operating loss of £52.3 million, up from £27.8 million, as it also withdraw from the Australian market. The company reports its UK revenue was £90.1 million, up 21%.
Vic Darvey, chief executive officer, 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."
He said: “Over the five years since we launched Purplebricks in the UK, we have fundamentally changed the estate agency market. We believe that our differentiated, technology-led proposition will drive profitable growth and will enable us to take market share from traditional agents. Current economic and political uncertainty in the UK means market conditions remain challenging with volumes continuing to trend downwards, partially offset by higher revenues per instruction. Recent management and strategic changes will enable a greater focus on operational excellence and allow us to leverage our unrivalled data position to drive customer experience and accelerate performance.
