Foxtons Group Q2 2026 Earnings Report

Foxtons Group EPS Results

• Actual EPS: GBX 1.80
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Foxtons Group Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: N/A
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Foxtons Group Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2026
• Date: 7/30/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, July 30, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 4:00AM ET

Foxtons Group (LON:FOXT), an estate agency, provides services to the residential property market in the United Kingdom. The company operates through three segments: Lettings, Sales, and Financial Services. The Lettings segment engages in letting and management of residential properties. The Sales segment sells residential properties. The Financial Services segment offers mortgages and related products. Foxtons Group plc was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Foxtons Group Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Neutral Sentiment: H1 revenue fell 3% to £84.2 million and adjusted operating profit declined 29% to £8.9 million, reflecting a 13% drop in Sales revenue and £3 million of Lettings revenue reversals from tenant-led terminations after the Renters’ Rights Act took effect.
• Positive Sentiment: Lettings revenue was flat despite the RRA disruption, with underlying like-for-like revenue up £1.9 million, property-management penetration rising 10%, ancillary-products revenue increasing 17%, and Build to Rent continuing to grow.
• Positive Sentiment: Foxtons expects the RRA to create medium-term growth opportunities as regulatory complexity drives landlords toward professional management, while strong tenant demand—averaging 17 renters per property—continues to exceed constrained supply.
• Negative Sentiment: The Sales market remains weak, with London exchange volumes down 13% and transaction volumes down 11%; management said current sales-agreed levels indicate that a meaningful recovery is unlikely in the near term, prompting £3 million of annualized Sales cost savings and operational restructuring.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management maintained its 2026 adjusted operating-profit guidance of £17 million–£19 million, weighted toward the second half, while net debt rose to £28.4 million after acquisitions, shareholder returns, and working-capital investment linked to annual landlord billing.

Presentation

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the Foxtons 2026 half-year results presentation. I'm joined by Chris Hough, Group CFO, and we will answer any questions at the end of the call. This morning, I will take you through some of the highlights for 2025 and provide an update on the London property market and further detail on the impact of the Renters' Rights Act. Chris will talk you through the financials and the performance of each of our businesses in more detail. Finally, I will outline the operational progress that we've delivered in the half before finishing with the outlook for the rest of the year. On slide five, we've outlined the key takeaways from this results presentation. To put these results into context, the market backdrop was highly challenging in the first half.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

The Sales market was subdued as domestic political uncertainty and conflict in the Middle East have led to higher borrowing costs and weaker consumer confidence. At the same time, the usually highly stable Lettings market saw some short-term volatility from the introduction of the Renters' Rights Act, or RRA. The RRA is the most significant piece of legislation in a generation and has overhauled key elements of the Lettings market as we outlined in March. Its implementation created a period of adjustment in the market, resulting in higher levels of tenant-led terminations through May and June. Against that backdrop, these results demonstrate the resilience of our business model. Over the last four years, we've deliberately repositioned the business towards Lettings through organic and acquisition-led growth initiatives, and that strategy continued to prove its value in the first half.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Today, 69% of group revenue comes from non-cyclical and reoccurring activities, and that compares to 65% in the prior year. This reflects the progress that we've made in growing our Lettings portfolio, which now stands at 32,000 tenancies. It also means that Foxtons is far less exposed to the Sales market cycles than it previously was. This can be seen in group revenues remaining highly resilient, only declining 3% despite the highly challenging market backdrop. In Lettings, the core focus of our business, we continue to make progress against our organic growth strategy. Prior to the impact of higher earlier terminations, the underlying business delivered revenue growth. The core business remained stable, and we're making good progress in capturing the growth opportunities that the RRA creates, with growth in both Build to Rent and the cross-sell of property management. We also continue to execute our acquisition strategy.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Acquisitions in new markets in Milton Keynes and Birmingham were completed earlier in the half, creating strong platforms in high-value markets that complement our London base. We're already seeing growth from aligning these businesses with the Foxtons operating platform and have built a strong pipeline of further bolt-on opportunities in these markets across our wider network. Cross-sell is an important part of our growth strategy. As we highlighted at our Capital Markets Day last year, high-margin ancillary products and services improve both profitability and customer lifetime value while strengthening our ability to support customers through their property life cycle. In the half, we delivered growth across each of the three businesses. Finally, we responded proactively to market conditions. During the first half, we delivered GBP 4.5 million of cost savings, completed a detailed operational review of the Sales business, and are implementing changes at pace.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

We also increased our RCF capacity to GBP 50 million to support our growth strategy. Chris will provide more detail in his section. These actions support profitability today while ensuring that the business remains well-positioned for future growth. Turning now to slide seven and an update on the London Lettings market. The market remained resilient despite the implementation of the Renters' Rights Act. Fundamentally, the structural imbalance between supply and demand remains across our markets and continues to underpin our focus on lettings. In H1, tenant demand remained very strong, and as you can see from the chart, we saw an average of 17 renters per property during the period, up 4% year-on-year. That demand means that properties are letting at the fastest pace that we've seen in four years. This demand means that rental values remain elevated and broadly stable.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Affordability constraints are naturally limiting further short-term price growth. The market remains highly attractive from a landlord perspective. In fact, today, we're seeing some of the highest yields available to landlords in recent years, and actually, that I've seen in my nearly 20-year career in London property. In summary, the underlying fundamentals remain unchanged. Demand for rental accommodation continues to exceed supply as London remains one of the most attractive places in the world to live and work. Offsetting this, housing delivery remains constrained. Taken together, these factors continue to support a positive long-term outlook for the sector. On this slide, I will take you through an update on the Renters' Rights Act, including what we're seeing on the short-term and longer-term expectations.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

As I mentioned earlier, the RRA is the biggest change to the industry in a generation, in fact, since the Housing Act in 1988. Alongside a host of new regulations and compliance requirements, the removal of fixed tenancy lengths is the biggest change. Rental agreements are now an open-ended basis. Tenants are able to leave at any point by giving two months' notice. As expected, some tenants took advantage of this new ability. The impact was greatest following implementation in May and has reduced across June and July. The additional terminations fell broadly into three categories. First, tenants for whom the property was no longer the right fit. Secondly, students making use of the increased flexibility under the new rules. Lastly, there was the normal tenancy churn that would have previously occurred at the end of the fixed term.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Importantly, the underlying picture was broadly stable, with the vast majority of tenants remaining in occupation. Against a portfolio of 32,000 tenancies, we experienced around 150 additional terminations per week. Whilst this is higher than historical levels, it remains a very small proportion of the overall portfolio and demonstrates that most tenants have continued to behave as expected. Importantly, these terminations are tenant-led and are not driven by landlords exiting the market. Our focus is on firmly getting these properties back to market and getting them let with new tenants for our landlords. Whilst there's been clearly some short-term volatility, we're also beginning to see the evidence of the opportunities we anticipated. The new regulations increased complexity, compliance requirements, therefore value of our professional advice.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

As a result, more landlords are choosing to work with professional agencies, we're already seeing this with an increased proportion of landlords taking up our management services. The Build to Rent volumes also grew in the half as we deepen our relationships with institutional clients who are also seeking support from Foxtons in navigating the more complex operating environment. Looking ahead, our view remains unchanged. We continue to believe that RRA could create significant medium-term growth opportunities by continuing to increase demand for professional agency services, improving the take-up of ancillary products and property management, as well as driving further industry consolidation. All of these trends play directly into Foxtons' strengths in brand, scale, technology, and operational capability. While the market is currently working through a period of adjustment, we remain highly positive about the medium-term opportunity. Moving now to slide nine and an update on the Sales market.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

The Sales market was highly challenging in the first half. Macroeconomic weaknesses, long-running domestic political uncertainty, and the conflict in the Middle East have fed through to higher borrowing costs and weaker consumer confidence. As expected, these weighed on activity levels. Exchange volumes across London were down 13% compared with the prior year. It's also worth remembering that 2025 benefited from Stamp Duty-related activity, creating an even stronger comparison. New home sales were more significantly impacted as both developers and buyers remained cautious in the prevailing market environment. Sales volumes in our commuter town businesses were less impacted than London, down 6% year-over-year, highlighting the increased resilience our geographical diversification strategy is creating. Buyer activity continues to be held back. Whilst new sales agreed were improving through January and February, momentum faded following the conflict in the Middle East and is now impacting on borrowing costs.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Domestic political uncertainty added further pressure, transaction volumes over the half were down 11%. Given that buyer demand leads transaction activity by several months, the current level of sales agreed suggests that a meaningful recovery in market volumes is unlikely in the near term. That said, demand has not disappeared and there is still high levels of pent-up demand in the market. Where sellers are motivated and reflecting current market dynamics in their pricing strategies, we are still seeing strong levels of buyer interest and offers and ultimately achieving successful outcomes. I'll now pass over to Chris for a run-through on the financials.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Thank you, Guy, Good morning, everyone. The group delivered resilient H1 revenue despite the well-trailed Sales market headwinds and a period of adjustment in lettings following the introduction of the RRA on the 1st of May. Financial highlights are set out on slide 11. Group revenue was 3% lower with lettings flat, sales down 13%, Financial Services up 20%. We delivered GBP 8.9 million of adjusted operating profit or AOP down 29% on the prior year. The primary factors impacting this was lower sales revenue as a result of depressed market transactions and GBP 3 million of tenant-led revenue reversals due to early terminations post-RRA, which has a high drop-through to AOP.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Cost control remains a major area of focus for us, with GBP 4.5 million of annualized cost savings implemented in the period, of which GBP 1.3 million benefited the H1 results. AOP margin decreased by 400 basis points to 10.6%.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Adjusted EBITDA, which is defined on the same basis used to calculate the group's RCF covenants, reduced by 25% to GBP 10.4 million. Statutory profit before tax was GBP 4.4 million. Net free cash flow was GBP 1.4 million, GBP 2.2 million lower than the prior year, and reflects lower Sales revenue and an expected working capital outflow linked to the rollout of more competitive landlord billing terms. Finally, the interim dividend is unchanged at GBP 0.24 per share. Turning now to slide 12, which provides an overview of the income statement.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Group revenue decreased by 3% and continues to be underpinned by Lettings revenue, which accounted for 65% of H1 revenue. Direct costs increased by GBP 0.4 million, reflecting savings from rightsizing actions as part of the H1 cost reduction program, offset by incremental direct costs from acquisitions and other inflationary pressures in areas such as National Insurance and National Living Wage levels.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Contribution was broadly flat at 64%. Overheads were GBP 1.3 million higher, reflecting incremental acquisition overheads and inflationary increases, mitigated by back office and head office property cost-saving initiatives. In total, GBP 4.5 million of annualized savings were implemented in H1, of which GBP 1.3 million benefited H1 with the full year expected to benefit by GBP 3.5 million. The annualized cost savings comprised GBP 3 million from the proactive cost reduction program announced within our Q1 trading statement and a further GBP 1.5 million from the head office relocation in January 2026. Depreciation, amortization of non-acquired intangibles, and share-based payment charges were GBP 0.4 million lower. Together, these movements delivered adjusted operating profit of GBP 8.9 million. Statutory profit for tax was GBP 5.8 million lower than the prior year, reflecting the lower adjusted operating profits and GBP 1.8 million higher adjusted items.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Adjusted items primarily reflect non-cash LTIP charges consistent with full-year 2025 reporting, non-cash branch impairment charges for a small number of underperforming branches which have been particularly impacted by Sales headwinds, and reorganization costs linked to the cost-saving measures. The cash impact of these adjusted items is around GBP 0.4 million in the half. Turning now to slide 13 on performance in Lettings. Lettings revenue continues to be non-cyclical and reoccurring in nature, and underpins the group's earnings, notwithstanding the short-term revenue volatility experienced following the introduction of the RRA, which I will speak to in a moment. Lettings revenue was flat at GBP 54.7 million. Within this outturn, we delivered organic and acquisitive growth. Specifically, we delivered underlying organic growth with GBP 1.9 million higher like-for-like Lettings revenue, which reflects good growth in Build to Rent and the cross-sell of ancillary Lettings products.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

We also increased penetration of property management by 10% versus the prior year, which will benefit the business in the future as revenues annualize. We also benefited from GBP 1.7 million of incremental revenue, primarily from the acquisitions in Milton Keynes and Birmingham. However, this growth was offset by two revenue headwinds. Firstly, GBP 3 million of reversals of previously recognized contractually due revenue following elevated tenant-led tenancy terminations after the introduction of the RRA. Secondly, GBP 0.4 million lower interest earned on client monies due to lower Bank of England rates. Volumes were 6% higher, whilst revenue per transaction was 6% lower, with both metrics reflecting expansion into higher volume but lower value markets via acquisition. Revenue per transaction in Foxtons' core markets was flat at GBP 8,700 per deal. Contribution declined GBP 0.6 million or 1% to GBP 40.9 million.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Adjusted operating profit declined by GBP 1.3 million, reflecting the high profit drop-through of the revenue reversals and a higher allocation of overhead costs to Lettings following rightsizing of the Sales business. Moving to slide 14 and an update on the Sales business. Sales revenue declined GBP 3.4 million or 13%, reflecting GBP 4 million lower like-for-like revenue and GBP 0.6 million of incremental revenue from the 2026 acquisitions. On a like-for-like basis, revenue was 15% lower, reflecting 11% reduction in used home revenue, broadly in line with the market, a 46% reduction in new homes revenue reflecting the more subdued new homes market.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

In total, volumes were 11% lower and revenue per transaction was 1% lower. Excluding the impact of acquisitions in commuter markets, revenue per transaction in core markets in London was 4% higher, reflecting 1% higher average sold prices and 33% growth in high-margin cross-sell and ancillary revenues.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Average market share across Foxtons' London markets was robust at 4.9%. The adjusted operating loss in Sales increased to GBP 4.7 million, as lower revenue was partly mitigated by the impact of savings from the proactive cost reduction program. Improving the profitability of Sales remains a key priority for us, and we are implementing operational changes which will better position the business for these lower volume markets. An area Guy will provide more detail on later in the presentation. Moving on to slide 15 on Financial Services.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Revenue in Financial Services was 20% higher at GBP 5.4 million, a strong performance against a weaker Sales market environment. Specifically, volumes were 25% higher, reflecting a stronger refinance pipeline, higher estate agency cross-sell rates, and improved advisor capacity and productivity. Average revenue per transaction was down 4%, reflecting the change in product mix towards refinance activity, partly mitigated by 25% growth in ancillary revenues.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Adjusted operating profit growth of 42% reflects strong revenue to profit conversion and incremental revenue delivered at a high margin due to disciplined overhead cost management. Finally, to slide 16 and cash flow. Net free cash flow generation was GBP 1.4 million. The operating cash to net free cash flow bridge on the left-hand side shows the key items of note. Operating cash before working capital movements was GBP 14.9 million, GBP 4.3 million lower than the prior year due to lower adjusted operating profits and the cash impact of adjusted items.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

There was a GBP 4.5 million working capital outflow reflecting the ongoing transition to annual landlord billing across the Lettings portfolio in order to improve competitiveness and landlord retention. We expect the portfolio to be fully transitioned to annual billing by 2027, with an estimated GBP 10 million working capital investments across 2026 and 2027 attributable to the transition.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

The group paid GBP 1.9 million of corporation tax and made GBP 5.1 million of lease liability repayments in the period. GBP 2 million of CapEx spend, primarily relating to internally generated software development and branch and head office fit-out costs. Looking at the opening to closing net cash bridge on the right-hand side, net debt at 30th of June 2026 was GBP 28.4 million, compared to GBP 16.9 million at 31st of December. As shown in the table, this reflects the GBP 1.4 million net free cash flow, GBP 0.8 million of interest paid, GBP 8.8 million of acquisition consideration, and GBP 3.2 million on total shareholder returns. In the year, we increased the capacity of the RCF to GBP 50 million from GBP 40 million in order to provide greater financial flexibility and to better support both organic and inorganic growth opportunities.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

The leverage covenant was also increased from 1.75x to 2.25x, again, to provide more financial flexibility, while the interest cover ratio covenant remains at 4x. The RCF matures in June 2028. At period end, the leverage ratio was 1.3x, and the net interest cover ratio was 18x, both compliant with the RCF covenants. Following the RCF amendments, leverage guidance has been increased to up to 1.75x, with the level dependent on the timing and quantum of future acquisitions. Finally, the interim dividend is unchanged at GBP 0.24 per share. Payment will be made on the 11th of September 2026 to shareholders on the register at close of business on the 7th of August 2026. The shares will be quoted ex-dividend on 6th of August 2026. I will now pass over to Guy for the operational update and outlook for 2026.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

On this slide, I will lay out the operational progress we have made in H1 and our focus for the rest of 2026 and beyond. In Lettings, we continue to make good progress with our organic growth strategy, executing against our formula of growing the portfolio and increasing the cross-sell of high-margin services. Revenue before terminations grew, supported by strong growth in the cross-sell of higher margin services, including a 17% increase in ancillary products and a 10% increase in property management upsell. This performance reflects our focus on building deeper relationships with landlords, delivering best-in-class service, and positioning Foxtons as a trusted partner. We have brought that same approach to Build to Rent, delivering growth in both revenue and deal volumes.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

By combining expert advice with our operational capability to let large, complex schemes at scale and pace, we have continued to strengthen our partnerships with institutional clients and win a greater share of their business. We have also continued to execute our acquisition strategy, completing two platform acquisitions in Milton Keynes and Birmingham. These markets offer attractive Lettings markets, long-term growth potential, and consolidation opportunities. The businesses are already benefiting from the capabilities of the Foxtons operating platform, with both delivering early portfolio growth. Looking ahead, we have a strong pipeline of bolt-on opportunities across these markets, as well as the wider network. We continue to deliver our strategy of building scale in Lettings. Turning now to Sales. Following the appointment of James Stevenson as Managing Director towards the end of last year, we completed a detailed review of the business.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

The objective was simple, to ensure Sales is structured for the market that we operate in today, reflecting market volumes, changing customer behavior and expectations, and the opportunities created by technology. At the start of the year, we maintained headcount on the expectation that market volumes would recover through 2026. We saw encouraging signs in January and February with buyer activity building throughout the early part of the year. However, by late February, our data increasingly pointed to that growth slowing, and it became clear that a recovery in transaction volumes was unlikely in the near term. We therefore acted decisively, implementing right-sizing actions that have delivered GBP 3 million of annual savings in the Sales business. Alongside these actions, we have continued to modernize the operating model, simplifying processes, reshaping teams, and making greater use of technology, data, and AI.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

In many ways, this is about taking the operating model that built London's leading Sales business over the last 25 years and evolving it for the next phase of the market. We've looked at every part. Our focus is straightforward, improving productivity and improving the customer experience. Importantly, this is not simply a cost program. It's about improving the quality of the operating model and ensuring that the business is positioned appropriately for today's market. As a result, we're building a stronger platform that can perform well in the current environment whilst remaining well-positioned to benefit when transaction volumes recover. Moving now to Financial Services. We delivered another strong period of operational progress. Operational upgrades have supported improved client retention and advisor improved productivity. We've improved the cross-sell of ancillary products, primarily in protection.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Despite the weaker Sales market, we've maintained new purchase mortgage volumes, highlighting the impact of improved advisor productivity and deepened connectivity between Financial Services and Foxtons' estate agency operations. Finally, underpinning all of this is our ongoing focus on productivity and costs. We delivered a total of GBP 4.5 million of annual savings from our proactive cost reduction programs I mentioned, alongside our relocation of our HQ. We continue to invest. Finally, to slide 20 and the outlook for the rest of 2026. In Lettings, we expect market conditions to remain supportive, with strong tenant demand continuing to outstrip supply. Whilst terminations remain above historical levels, the financial impact has moderated significantly since May, and we expect conditions to continue to stabilize through the second half. More importantly, we're already seeing some of the opportunities the legislation creates.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

This includes growing demand for Foxtons property management services and Build to Rent services, as increasing numbers of landlords turn to Foxtons for advice, compliance expertise, and professional management. As a result, we remain confident that RRA will create attractive growth opportunities for the business over the medium term. Turning to Sales, buyer activity continues to be held back by weak consumer confidence and higher borrowing costs. Whilst market conditions remain challenging, we have taken decisive action to reposition the business for today's market and improve profitability. The operational plan underway is focused on improving productivity, enhancing the customer experience, and ensuring the business is well positioned for future recovery. Overall, we expect 2026 adjusted operating profit to be in the range of GBP 17 million-GBP 19 million, with performance weighted towards the second half. Importantly, group profitability continues to be underpinned. That concludes the formal presentation.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Thank you all for joining us today. Chris and I look forward to meeting with many of you in the coming weeks. I'll now pass over to the operator for any questions you may have.

[Operator]

The question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you've entered the queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. The first question from the phone comes from Robert Plant with H2 Radnor. Please go ahead.

[Robert Plant, Analyst at H2 Radnor]

Morning, Guy and Chris. Two related questions on students. First of all, what is Foxtons' exposure to the student market? Secondly, next year, do you think landlords will be able to modify the leases with students to mitigate the impact of the RRA? For example, could they end-

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Our exposure to students is very dependent upon location, as you'd imagine. If you go into some of the more traditional locations like South Kensington, we have a high proportion of those available units being let to students on an ongoing basis. Once you start to peel out to zones two and three, then the exposure to students becomes much lower. If we take the entire portfolio across London, we're circa 15% of our units are let entirely to a student. When I say entirely, that means that the entire household would be classified as students. That's where we're at in terms of that.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Then in terms of your question around will there be modifications to the terms for students, what we're already seeing is that for this year, for the previous students, the opportunity to be able to give notice in May or June to basically save a month or two of rent So that those units, instead of becoming available in September, then became available in June or July. As you can imagine, the amount of competition for the student units is extremely high, and the frequency of the students was exactly the same, albeit that the new students coming in for the start of term in September this year, were now having to pull forward taking those units on an earlier date.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

We're basically seeing a shift of this one year, where we had one tranche of students who possibly were able to get away with, let's say, a 10-month student period. This year, then being very much taken back over by students who were taking the start of their tenancy term, rather than starting in September, were now taking that in June or July.

[Company Representative at Foxtons]

Okay. I think.

[Robert Plant, Analyst at H2 Radnor]

Great. That's clear. Thank you, Guy.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Thanks for your question. Okay.

[Operator]

For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question from the phone comes from Greg Poulton with Singer Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

[Greg Poulton, Analyst at Singer Capital Markets]

Yeah. Morning, guys. A few questions from me, please. Firstly, could you talk a bit more about the M&A pipeline and what we can expect in terms of the cadence of M&A over the remainder of financial year? Second, just in terms of organic growth in lettings, have you seen any evidence of new landlords coming over as a result of the RRA, or the primary benefit of that being mainly existing landlords seeking a managed service? Be good to get some color on that. Likewise on organic growth lettings, does the lack of tenancy term make organic growth more challenging in terms of there's no natural endpoint for the landlord to review their agreement with their existing lettings agents? Thanks.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Hi, Greg. Morning. Thanks for your question. I'll take the M&A pipeline. As you know, continuing to invest in high-quality businesses is absolutely core to what we believe continues to strengthen the Foxtons operating model. Every pound of extra revenue that we can either grow organically or buy in as M&A helps us offset the business against the sales cycles. I think, if we look back historically, more than five years ago, the profile of the business was entirely different to what it is today against these historically very low sales transactions. I think we're absolutely validated to continue to push that focus on M&A.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

We've got a great pipeline. Actually, as you know, we've made a number of acquisitions outside of London over the last couple of years, predominantly focusing at the moment on the opportunities that we've got in locations like Birmingham and Milton Keynes, because we've now initially bought the hub businesses for both of those locations, high quality, market leading businesses with great rent rolls. Now we're really focused on adding in the extra businesses on top of those initial units so that we can then take the extra synergies from those additional acquisitions. We're very excited about that. We've got a great pipeline of multiple opportunities in those locations where we really want to be able to secure almost an unassailable lead of market share dominance in those locations. Yeah, excited about what that looks like this year.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

We're very confident that we can continue to spend the allotted amount of cash that we've got, that we set out at the start of the year on those acquisitions. Hopefully that answers your first part of the question. Organic lettings, are we seeing new landlords coming into the market? This is a really interesting observation of the market only over the last couple of months, as prices have come down to a point that, even looking back over the last five or six years, at some of the lowest levels that we've seen for capital values, for Sales values.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

We spent time with our auctions team this week as well. They've made several Sales to landlords over the last couple of weeks, where they're seeing an 8% or a 9% yield for new landlords buying new units coming into the market, which in my entire career, I've never seen anything like that historically. Looking at locations like Canary Wharf, we've seen a much higher number of landlords coming in. Seeing a small number of these new landlords coming in, we're also seeing, I think the larger opportunity for Foxtons in the medium term, is that we're seeing a larger proportion of landlords who have historically been self-managed, converting over to our fully managed service.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

That, of course, is a very important growth lever for us, and something that we've demonstrated of really performing very well, even over the challenging six-month period of the readjustment property managed service. Yeah, pleased to see all of this. Your last question.

[Greg Poulton, Analyst at Singer Capital Markets]

Yeah, that was just on organic growth and lettings again.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Endings.

[Greg Poulton, Analyst at Singer Capital Markets]

There's no natural endpoint to a tenancy contract now for the landlord to sort of review their existing Lettings agent agreement. When does the agreement coming towards an end and initiated contact with them, how do you think about that?

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Well, I really see it as the new rules within that being of a benefit, because what we are now able to do is have an annualized discussion over the rental values. Already we've had thousands of these conversations with our existing portfolio, and we've seen a very strong upside on rental price and positioning on pricing, with very little challenge from tenants in terms of those price increases. We're pleased that we've got now this annual opportunity to review pricing. Your point around the natural end to a tenancy level, the two-year or the three-year period, now for us, we believe that the existing landlords are more likely to be stickier and locked in for a longer period of time.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Conversations earlier with, let's say, competition landlords who might not be using Foxtons, using external data sources and our own data set internally at Foxtons to be able to ascertain when we believe tenancies may be coming to an end on a much more proactive basis. I think, again, it leans into our advantages of having this enormous data set going back 20 years, and in continuing to increase the quality of those conversations and the value-add service when we're speaking with landlords across the year.

[Greg Poulton, Analyst at Singer Capital Markets]

That's great. Thanks very much, Guy.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

Thanks, Greg.

[Operator]

Gentlemen, that was the last question from the phone. I hand now back over to you.

[Company Representative at Foxtons]

Okay. Got two questions from Kate at Panmure. The first is you've mentioned, and the second question, which is, there's GBP 4 million of annualized savings weighted into H2 alongside the Sales operational review. Can you help us bridge how much of the H2 profit improvement is expected from cost-driven initiatives versus dependent on a pickup in Sales market activity?

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

Thanks, Kate. I'll take both those. In terms of tenant-led terminations, in May, going into June, certainly in June, I saw into Q3, that starts to stabilize further. Indeed, those terminations are naturally higher in Q3 due to the seasonality and the rhythm of the Sales markets. As we've looked forward and put together expectations for the full year, certainly we are expecting termination levels to exist, that exist in the new regulations, but we're certainly expecting those to moderate, and we've seen that from those initial May levels, which were also higher value, really showing there was a tendency. Savings versus Sales market conditions for the second half. Once in the Sales market conditions, we have been relatively conservative on how we think that will play out.

[Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons]

When compared to historical markets, we do feel that we are in a similar market, certainly in our core patches to what we were in 2023. We've taken that view. There's various catalysts which could make that better, but we feel we've positioned that in a relatively conservative position. Is to be greater in 2027, to be that GBP 4.5 million figure. Hopefully that helps in terms of the weighting of cost savings.

[Company Representative at Foxtons]

That's all the questions from the web.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

If that's all of the questions that we have, I'd just like to thank you all for joining us today. Chris and I will be spending time meeting with many of you over the coming weeks. We continue to focus on improving the business at every opportunity. We know that H1 has been more challenging from a market point of view. I think we've taken some very strong, decisive actions over that period of time. Renters Reform, caused by the Renters Reform, we feel are temporary and we're working through those. I think we've got a business that is fit still for a platform to take advantage of the opportunities for both sales and lettings, not just based on market recovery, but certainly continuing to grow lettings revenue wherever we can and continue to make the business considerably more resilient as a result of that.

[Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons]

We look forward to meeting with you all very soon. Appreciate your time this morning.

Participants

Analysts

• Guy Gittins, CEO at Foxtons
• Chris Hough, CFO at Foxtons
• Robert Plant, Analyst at H2 Radnor
• Company Representative at Foxtons
• Greg Poulton, Analyst at Singer Capital Markets