Foxtons Group (LON:FOXT) – Strongest start in ten years, a new TP

23.04.2025

Driven by the pressure of closing deals before the 31st March Stamp Duty Deadline, London’s number one estate and letting agency this morning reported in its Q1 Trading Update to end-March, that its Sales side was some 73% ahead, while Lettings and Financial Services were 5% and 7% ahead respectively – helping to push the group’s overall first quarter year performance by 24% in revenue terms.

CEO Guy Gittins stated that:

"This has been a very strong start to the year, with Foxtons recording its highest quarterly Sales revenue in nearly 10 years.

In Lettings, we produced another robust performance with revenues up 5%, including contributions from our new offices in the Watford and Reading areas.

Lettings remains a key area of focus for Foxtons, with high quality non-cyclical and recurring revenues underpinning the Group's financial profile and driving resilient earnings.

In Sales, operational improvements implemented since 2022, combined with strong market share growth and increased market volumes, drove a 73% increase in revenue.

The level of revenue growth demonstrates the scale of the turn-around within Sales, as the business capitalised on stamp duty-driven increased market activity far more effectively than in previous years, such as during the stamp duty relief deadline in 2021.

Despite ongoing macro volatility, with our market leadership position and resilient business model, I am confident we can drive further growth this year, and deliver long-term value for shareholders, employees, and customers."

Analyst Greg Poulton, at Singer Capital Markets, rates the shares as a Buy, with a 92p Target Price.

He looks for 178.6m (£163.9m) revenues for the year to end-December, with adjusted pre-tax profits up to £20.8m (£19.0m), with earnings of 5.0p (4.9p) and a dividend of 1.37p (1.17p) per share.

Last night the group’s shares closed at just 57.30p, after some 886,353 shares were traded, I now see them edging gently better between now and the group holding its Capital Markets Event on Wednesday 4th June.

Accordingly, I am now setting a new Target Price of 71p.

(Profile 07.07.21 @ 60p set a Target Price of 76p)

(Profile 08.01.24 @ 49.25p set a Target Price of 61p*)

(Profile 23.04.25 @ 57.30p set a Target Price of 71p).