Foxtons: Share price soars after London estate agent outperforms market
London estate agents Foxtons has reported double digit growth driven by market share gains in both sales and lettings.
Revenue in the year ended December 2024 grew 11 per cent to £163m, from £147.1m in 2023, while adjusted operating profit grew 33 per cent to £19m, from £14.3m in 2023.
Its share price rose nearly seven per cent in early trades.
Lettings revenue, which is around 65 per cent of total revenue, grew around five per cent, with Foxtons retaining its position as London’s largest lettings agent.
The strong growth is partly a result of the company’s expansion into two commuter towns last Autumn, which delivered an extra 2,900 combined tenancies and increased the size of the its portfolio of tenancies by 10 per cent.
Sales revenue grew around 30 per cent year on year, Foxtons said, driven by a 20 per cent increase in market share and a 10 per cent recovery in London transaction volumes.
The pipeline of properties under offer is “significantly above” this time last year, which is expected to underpin year-on-year revenue growth in 2025.
The growth in the under-offer pipeline is “partly driven by first time buyer activity ahead of increased Stamp Duty rates from April 2025”, Foxtons said.
However, the firm said that buyer demand this driven will primarily be determined by the speed at which interest rates fall.
Chief executive Guy Gittins said: “Our renewed focus on training, culture and retention, supported by our best-in-class data and technology, has driven double digit market share gains in sales, and revenue growth in lettings. In addition, we have made two acquisitions in commuter towns as we expand into exciting new growth markets.
“We enter 2025 with optimism. We expect the lettings business to remain resilient and, in Sales, we start the year with the highest opening under-offer pipeline since the Brexit vote in 2016. This dynamic, coupled with our results driven-culture and industry-leading Foxtons Operating platform, leaves us well placed to continue to deliver against our strategic priorities in 2025.”
Singer Capital Markets analyst Greg Poulton forecast “continued double digit profit-before-tax growth” and added that he saw “scope for upgrades as the year unfolds”.
“We continue to see significant value in Foxtons, which is one of our 2025 best ideas. We remain at Buy,” Poulton said.