National estate agency and property services group Connells is pleased to announce pre-tax profits of £23 million in the first half of 2013 compared to £18.5 million for the same period in 2012. The result, which has been achieved on the back of continued investment across the business and an improving housing market, represents a 24% increase in profits, a figure which rises to 53% when compared to the first half of 2011. 

Compared to a strong first half in 2012, the Group's estate agency business has recorded further improvements in activity this year including a 16.7% increase in property sales, rising to 28% growth in June alone. Schemes like Funding for Lending and more recently Help to Buy have enabled increasing numbers of buyers to purchase a property in the first half of 2013 which has resulted in increases in buyer registrations (up 14.2%) and property instructions (up 8.8% for second hand and 7.3% for new build) in the first six months of this year.

Despite well documented capacity issues in the surveying market, Connells Survey & Valuation has increased its results by 9%. This has been achieved in addition to continued investment into technology and recruitment; indeed, Connells Survey & Valuation has increased its surveying team by over 30% in the last 18 months.

"Connells Group has continued to invest across the business over recent years and this is now bearing fruit, as shown by these fantastic results for the first half of the year," says David Livesey, Chief Executive for Connells Group. "Our sales pipeline is up over 25% compared to this time in 2012 so we are expecting even better results in the second half of the year."

Connells Group Mortgage Services continues to go from strength to strength, fuelled by continued low interest rates, more competition between lenders and greater availability of mortgage products. In the first half of 2013, the Group has seen significant increases in the number of mortgages it arranges for customers (up 35% in the first half of the year, rising to 49% in June alone). Connells' investment into its Mortgage Services division over the last few years means it is now well placed to capitalise on both the upturn in housing market activity and greater appetite from lenders to provide mortgages.

"In 2013, Connells Group has maintained its focus on the core estate agency business while continuing to grow our presence in areas such as lettings, mortgages and surveying," says David. "We are now seeing encouraging signs across the housing market, supported by initiatives like Help to Buy which has been transformational for the new build market. The extension of Help to Buy to second hand homes in January 2014 will add further impetus to the housing market."

"As always, today's results could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of individuals across the business and we are blessed with having very talented and committed people within the Connells Group," David continues. "We have entered the second half of the year with an even stronger pipeline than 2012 so I fully expect we will see further growth for Connells Group as the year progresses."

Going forward, the Connells Group has ambitions for further expansion which will be a mixture of organic growth and acquisitions. It is open to new opportunities to acquire both sales and lettings businesses.

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Further information

For further information and photography, please contact the press office on 01525 218536 or email Julia Brook, Group PR Manager: Julia.brook@connells.co.uk or Matthew Solesbury, Group PR Executive: matthew.solesbury@connells.co.uk

Notes to editors

About the Connells Group:

Founded in 1936 and comprising of 487 branches nationwide, the industry-leading Connells Group is the most profitable UK estate agency network. In addition to operating under the Connells brand, the Group trades under other well-known local names including Allen & Harris, Bagshaws Residential, Barnard Marcus, Brown & Merry, Fox & Sons, Jones & Chapman, Manners & Harrison, Roger Platt, Shipways, Swetenhams, William H Brown, Sharman Quinney, Burchell Edwards and Ashley Adams. As well as residential property sales and lettings, the Group has a comprehensive range of B2C and B2B services including new homes, mortgage services, conveyancing, EPCs, surveying, corporate lettings, asset management, land & planning, LPA receivers, auctions and relocations. The Connells Group is consistently named Best Large Estate Agency at the Estate Agency of the Year awards, winning the top prize for four of the past six years. It is also highly acclaimed in the New Homes category, winning Gold five times in the last six years, and in the Financial Services category for which it currently holds the Gold prize for the fourth year running.