TIDMBLV
RNS Number : 5519I
Belvoir Lettings PLC
27 November 2018
27 November 2018
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
BELVOIR LETTINGS PLC
(the "Company", "the Group" or "Belvoir")
Acquisition of MAB (Gloucester) Limited
Update on Trading
Belvoir Lettings plc (AIM: BLV), the UK's largest property
franchise, is pleased to announce that in line with its continued
growth strategy, it has acquired the entire issued share capital of
MAB (Gloucester) Limited ("MAB Glos") for net consideration of
GBP3.6 million (the "Acquisition"), through its subsidiary Brook
Financial Services Ltd ("Brook"). The consideration will be
satisfied in cash from a drawdown of existing bank facilities. The
Acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings accretive.
Background on MAB Glos
MAB Glos, which trades as Mortgage Advice Bureau, is the
largest(1) appointed representative firm of Mortgage Advice Bureau,
the wholly owned subsidiary of AIM-listed Mortgage Advice Bureau
(Holdings) plc ("MAB"), one of the UK's leading networks for
mortgage intermediaries.
MAB Glos provides mortgage and related financial services to
clients through its network of 63 Business Partners, who, similar
to a franchise network, are highly motivated individuals or small
businesses operating on a self-employed basis licensed to MAB Glos
with MAB providing training, support, compliance, website and
national marketing via the wider MAB brand. There are 88 mortgage
advisers operating across the MAB Glos network which is currently
based primarily in the Midlands, the South West and Wales.
Further details of the Acquisition
Brook has acquired the entire issued share capital of MAB Glos
for net consideration of GBP3.6 million, to be settled in cash
which will be paid by drawing down existing debt facilities.
Michelle Brook, Managing Director of Brook, will manage the whole
financial services division overseen by Mark Newton, Executive
Director of the Belvoir Lettings plc board. The Financial Services
Director, Tim Wood, and all four Business Development Managers are
staying within the MAB Glos business.
Financial information on MAB Glos
For the year ended 31 December 2017, based on unaudited
financial statements, MAB Glos generated revenue of GBP3,061,000
and profit before tax of GBP467,000. In the 12 months to 31 August
2018, based on unaudited management accounts, MAB Glos generated
revenue of GBP3,870,000 and profit before tax of GBP575,000. Within
the past three years, the number of mortgage advisers within the
MAB Glos network has grown from 32 to 88, of which 22 have joined
in 2018. As these new 2018 advisers gain traction, the network is
expected to deliver further financial growth in the remainder of
2018 and into 2019.
Group strategy
The Belvoir Group currently comprises 300 property franchise
offices nationwide, managing over 61,000 properties and undertaking
over 6,000 property sales per year; and 39 mortgage advisers within
Brook offering mainly remote/telephone mortgage advice.
Between MAB Glos and Brook, acquired July 2017, the financial
services division will comprise 127 mortgage advisers, which
represents over 10% of the 1,100 MAB adviser base, operating out of
64 offices. Building further on this longstanding and well
established relationship, the Belvoir Group has executed a new,
long term exclusive agreement with MAB. The Board believes that
growth for the Group will be enhanced through a close working
partnership between the MAB Glos mortgage advisers and the property
franchisees within the Belvoir Group in two ways:
-- the ongoing recruitment of mortgage advisers to achieve
nationwide coverage to be accelerated through our property
franchisees offering a lead source to incoming advisers who,
depending on the level of business, can be based in their office or
shared between a number of adjacent offices; and
-- our proposition to clients being enhanced by giving them
access to thousands of mortgage deals through access to either
remote/telephone or face to face high quality mortgage advice,
which importantly, will continue throughout the lifetime of the
relationship with the client and not just when their mortgage
completes.
The Board believes that this dual approach should achieve
materially greater penetration of financial services into Belvoir's
client base, whilst delivering a win-win for the MAB Glos Business
Partners who will continue to benefit from the support of their
existing team but also gain from the Belvoir Group providing a lead
source from 300 new introducers.
Current Trading
Following the strong growth reported in the interim results in
September, the Board is pleased to report that trading has
continued well and is in line with market expectations. As in
previous years, a more detailed pre-close trading update for the
year ended 31 December 2018 will be provided at the end of
January.
Dorian Gonsalves, Chief Executive Officer, Belvoir
commented:
"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of MAB Glos, whose
network of 63 Business Partners will entirely complement our
existing network of 300 property franchisees, both in terms of the
management infrastructure and the cross-selling opportunities,
creating a total of 364 offices, including Brook, operating under
the Belvoir Group. We believe that the acquisition of MAB Glos will
provide the basis for developing a network of financial advisers to
support our franchisees at a local level, in addition to the
existing mortgage advice services delivered centrally by Brook.
This will give our existing property franchisees the ability to
'build a business within a business' by either utilising an
existing MAB Glos mortgage adviser or taking on their own new
adviser on-site. This will in turn achieve greater penetration of
financial services to the Group's client base for the benefit of
both individual franchisees and the Group as a whole."
For further details:
Belvoir Lettings PLC 01476 584900
Mike Goddard, Chairman investorrelations@belvoirlettings.com
Dorian Gonsalves, Chief Executive Officer
Louise George, Chief Financial Officer
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
Rick Thompson, Philip Davies, Will Goode
Corporate Finance
Caspar Shand-Kydd, Gregor Paterson
Sales 0207 894 7000
Buchanan 0207 466 5000
Charles Ryland, Madeleine Seacombe, Tilly Abraham belvoir@buchanan.uk.com
Note to Editors:
About Belvoir Lettings PLC
Founded in 1995 and listed on AIM in 2012 (BLV.L), Belvoir
operates a nationwide property franchise group with 364 offices
across four brands specialising in residential lettings, property
management, residential sales and property-related financial
services. With its Central Office in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the
Group manages over 61,000 properties and reported revenue of
GBP11.3m in 2017 making Belvoir the largest property franchise
group in the UK.
(1) MAB Glos is the largest appointed representative firm of
Mortgage Advice Bureau in terms of number of advisers.
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END
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