Property: Half year profits up at Hunters

Hunters chairman Kevin Hollinrake, who was elected as MP for Thirsk and Malton earlier this year.

The York-based property group said that revenue was up 45 per cent to £5.23m in the six months ended June 30, while adjusted profit before tax, excluding amortisation, acquisition costs, investment income and notional financial costs, increased by 14 per cent to £344,000.

Hunters added that it expects to see full benefit of the large number of new branches added to the network in the first half and it is confident of continued growth of its franchise network and meeting the board’s expectations for the full year.

Harry Hill, chief executive officer of Hunters Property Plc, said: “We made significant strategic progress in the first half of 2015, expanding our branch network and investing for the future.”

The group, whose chairman is the Tory MP for Thirsk, Malton and Filey, Kevin Hollinrake, floated on AIM.

Mr Hill said: “Our admission to AIM on July 2 is an important step in continuing the strategic vision of the company, which has ambitious plans for growth, both organically and through acquisition.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff and partners across the entire Hunters network for their outstanding contribution and support in getting us into this wonderful position.”

In the first half of the year Hunters completed the acquisitions of Country Properties and the remaining interest in RealCube.

Mr Hill added: “While the early part of the year was slow for the estate agency market as a whole and was impacted by the General Election, our performance in the first half was on plan. The second half is traditionally the stronger trading period and given the current momentum in the business and the benefit of our expanded branch network we are confident of achieving strong growth and meeting our expectations for the full year.”