£4m worth of Purplebricks share options handed to two new employees

Two members of the Purplebricks team have been given options to buy a total of 1.4m shares in the business at 0.01p each.

The options are worth some £4m to the two senior but relatively new members of staff.

The options have been granted under the employee share option plan and have an exercise price of £3.05.

The beneficiaries are chief financial officer James Davies, who has 1.m options, and UK chief marketing officer Ed Hughes with 400,000.

Davies succeeded Neil Cartwright at Purplebricks and joined the board on May 2. Cartwright departed through ill health and tributes were yesterday paid to his contribution to the business.

Hughes has been with Purplebricks since last November. He replaced the highly successful Joby Russell, who was also previously awarded and cashed in share options, and is now with the Australian operation.

The announcement of the share options to Davies and Hughes was made yesterday to the stock exchange after Purplebricks delivered its full-year results for the year to the end of April.

The results showed UK revenue up 132% year-on-year, with instructions up 94% and a 118% rise in the number of Local Property Experts to 448 (540 as of yesterday).

While the results did not reveal the actual number of homes sold during the year, investors did not seem to mind.

Yesterday shares in Purplebricks finished 5% up, while founder and CEO Michael Bruce told the Telegraph: “We are on track to be the most successful estate agent in UK history.”

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35 Comments

  1. AgentV

    “We are on track to be the most successful estate agent in UK history.”

    Shouldn’t that be;

    “We are on track to be the most successful online lister in UK history.”

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  2. Property Paddy

    Not seeing any actual profits though, are they ?

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  3. RealAgent

    “We are on track to be the most successful estate agent in history”

    An arrogant attitude like that has a habit of coming back to bite you on the ar*se.

    I thought it was just his brother that people said was the d**k.

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  4. Moveaside01

    I like the fact that the investors ‘didn’t mind’ not knowing how many properties have actually been sold? Obviously the investors, unlike the sellers, have now recognised that the PB business model is not based on selling houses, it’s listing them! If you pay on the way in, who cares if you sell or not?

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  5. Estate_Agent_Memes

    £850 to £1000 up front.

    The “local” property “experts” get paid circa £175 for listing a property then a handsome £25 when it sells!!! It’s obvious what their motivation is – just list it, gate paid and then who cares if it sells, not the local property expert for £25!!??

    Thier legal fees are approximately £200 (for each transaction) more than if you went directly to the solicitor (I know one on their panel)

    £300 for a viewing package whether they do any viewings or not!!You still pay.

    Nice work if you can get it – sustainable…? I think not.

    Advertising Standards are letting down The Proper Estate Agency Industry, massively, as these fees are being advertised in a sneaky/small print manner.

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  6. Beam Splitter

    “While the results did not reveal the actual number of homes sold during the year, investors did not seem to mind.”

     

    Lol wat? Am I missing something? I thought investors expected returns? I don’t even know whats going on anymore!

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    1. Homefinders Plus

      I thought I read yesterday that it was one every 9 minutes on a 24/7 basis. Therefore, as there are 1440 minutes in a day, 160 sales a day, x 365 = 58,400. 

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      1. Homefinders Plus

        In fact a certain Mr Wood commented (on another site) yesterday ““That suggests they agreed 58,400 sales Sold Subject to Contract. So they agreed 16,621 more sales than they listed? That’s quite a churn! However, 34,233 (£8,215,920,000 worth of property) must have fallen through.” “A purple haze clouds the year-end figures.””  

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        1. cyberduck46

          Yesterday PurpleBricks had 14413 properties on the market. Today 14435. In the last 24 hours a further 200 (approx) new instructions have been listed.
           
          This means 178 have gone off the market.
           
          So one sold every 9 minutes seems about right.

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          1. Chris Wood

            Sold or sold stc? Mr Bruce claimed, and re-stated after clarification was requested, that it was 88% of those listed actually ‘sold’ (completed) on BBC MoneyBox. The year end figures make that claim mathematically impossible (and that’s the polite way of puting it).

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            1. cyberduck46

              It has now been clarified that the figure used was sales agreed in May 2017 so an observation based on recent trading.
               
              See https://pbprodcms.azureedge.net/media/1874/purplebricks-end-of-year-results-final-without-videos.pdf
               

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              1. Chris Wood

                How strange that prior to “clarification” the release could easily allow (and clearly did) people to think that the 24/7 claim was over the period over a whole year.

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                1. cyberduck46

                  Only people inexperienced with reading annual statements would jump to conclusions over timeframes when none is referred to. As an investor you must make sure you don’t jump to the wrong conclusions.
                  Chris, the fact that you jumped to the wrong conclusion shows you are not qualified and don’t have the experience to comment on these things. 

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          2. PeeBee

            “In the last 24 hours a further 200 (approx) new instructions have been listed.”

            So – are you stating that you have investigated every one of what you state are “new instructions” to authenticate your claim?

            “This means 178 have gone off the market… So one sold every 9 minutes seems about right.”

            Have you cross-checked every one of the 178 properties you refer to – established that they have, in fact, been “sale agreed”, in order to authenticate your claim?

            Of course not – to both points.  

            You have wrapped 5h!t in Christmas paper and hope we accept it as if it were a wondrous gift.  But you can’t mask the smell of the content.

            You have no idea whatsoever why the supposed 178 properties you refer to were removed from their Zoopla page; no proof whatsoever that a single one of them was a sale agreed.

            Your post is disingenious.
             

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            1. cyberduck46

              PeeBee you need to look up the meaning of the term disingenuous. While you’re at it check the spelling 🙂 Also check my post again and the use of “approx” and “about right”.

               
              If somebody knows something and pretends they don’t then it would be disingenuous. So for example if I knew that when PurpleBricks refered to ‘sale agreed’ they referred to SSTC properties but pretended that I thought they were referring to completed sales then that would be disingenuous. Ring any bells?
               
              Or for example somebody claiming that PurpleBricks’ completion rate is 25% of sales listed when they know it’s closer to 60%.
               
              What does it matter whether it’s 1 in every 9 minutes or 1 in every 12 minutes? Do you think anybody is bothered? This obsession with minutiae just shows how rattled some Estate Agents are.
               
              Ask yourself why the Estate Agency Industry has to have its own Act of Parliament and a department all for itself at trading standards. Both a long time before PurpleBricks came along. Case Law is littered with cases of serious fraud and negligence by traditional Estate Agents. 
               
               
               
               

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              1. Property Ear

                People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
                PB’s are in for a caning anytime soon – just watch, wait and see.
                This business model is all set to come tumbling down.
                 
                 

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                1. cyberduck46

                  Property Ear,
                   
                  Perhaps you’re right but I’m not in a glass house so it wouldn’t matter.
                   
                  The trouble though is that statements like “in for a caning any time soon” have been used before and pretty much everything that PB has claimed has been laughed at by Estate Agents and many of the doubters who claim to know what they are talking about and seem to be respected have been proven wrong. Yet they seem undetered and continue in the same vain. Questioning everything, even trivial things.
                   
                  This shows me that Estate Agents have been complacent and have underestimated PB and underestimated the publics dislike of traditional estate agents and overestimated the public reaction to bad publicity for PB. So until I see differently I’m going to be skeptical of any predictions but I don’t rule out one coming true one of these days.

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              2. PeeBee

                “What does it matter whether it’s 1 in every 9 minutes or 1 in every 12 minutes?”

                Don’t ask me – ask the company you have shares in and have twice used your property in the very statistics you are referring to.

                Actually – they have never to the best of my knowledge claimed one ‘whatever’ every twelve minutes.  One every thirty; one every sixteen – and now one every nine, yes.  One in twelve would have been champion because it divides nicely into 60.

                Is that going to be next month’s claim?  Or the one in their next Trading Statement?  You seem to know so much…

                “Ask yourself why the Estate Agency Industry has to have its own Act of Parliament and a department all for itself at trading standards.”

                AHHH – so now we switch to ‘Plan B’…

                …when wrapping 5h!t in Christmas paper doesn’t work – go with the ‘low blow’ tactics.  

                Laughable – but totally predictable.  You have nowhere else to go; nothing else to throw at it.

                In answer to your question – I don’t need to ask myself anything.  I am eminently more aware of both the reasoning for – and the futility of – both of the points you have raised than you are.

                “Case Law is littered with cases of serious fraud and negligence by traditional Estate Agents.”

                And will no doubt be further littered with such cases in future by ‘disruptor-type’ Estate Agents.  If you even half believe for one nanosecond that alternative models to traditional estate Agency – as the above sentence seems to imply – are less likely to err on the wrong side of the Laws that our industry is required to work within, then you have just atomised any shred of credibility there may have been in your entire past, present and future argument.

                WHICH, I hasten to add, is, in your own words, nothing but an attempt at “protecting my investment. Nothing to do with being a customer.”

                And nothing whatsoever to do, either, with giving a fuppenny tuck about the industry I have worked within for nearly forty years – honestly and diligently, I add… just like the vast majority of my peers with whom I am proud to work alongside – both colleagues and competitors.

                And I, Sir, take deep offence at your shallow attempt to discredit my industry – however ironic and frankly laughable it may be to those who know anything about anything.

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                1. cyberduck46

                  PeeBee,
                   
                  When I said I was protecting my investment what I was doing was investigating claims you and others were making in regard to PB in case there was any serious discrepencies in regard to the claims of portal juggling. My conclusion was that there was nothing that would damage the company.
                   
                  My own experience as a customer is that PB actually make more effort to comply with the law than local agents. At least when it comes to property descriptions.
                   
                  The point I make in regard to your industry is that there are more serious issues than those repeatedly being brought up in comments by yourslef and a few others. When we do see these reported we don’t have 100 odd comments and you are rarely to be seen but you do spend a lot of time trying to find things wrong with PurpleBricks and making damaging statements that quite often turn out to be wrong, questioning things or just plain speculating as you are when you say that PB’s figures contain duplicated data.
                   
                  In regard to lawbreaking I was reading comments a couple of days ago from The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents and they claim they are being told by Agents that they need to be sure the rogue element of the industry cannot be members, before they commit to membership. 
                   
                  They go on to say:
                   
                  That the feedback from agents was that before they commit to joining they want to “wait and see” so as to be satisfied that controls are in place to prevent any criminal agents being part of the organisation.

                   

                  They state “Before their feedback, we had not fully appreciated the scale of this problem, i.e. just how many independent agents are breaking the law.”

                   

                  “These agents who act as though they are above the law are doing the worst damage to the industry. Before there is a chance of improving its reputation, these agents must be publicly identified, to protect the public from their deliberate criminality, or at best their sheer incompetence.”

                   

                  And by the way I am not currently a PurpleBricks shareholder. My reasons for posting are not to protect my investment 🙂

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                  1. PeeBee

                    You sell and buy as you think fit.

                    Clearly you spotted what you thought a good ‘sell’ opportunity for your most recent tranche of stock acquisitions in that company.

                    You will no doubt buy their stock again when you feel it suits you. 

                    You have a vested interest in this company – even if you are not gaining from it today.

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                  2. PeeBee

                    CIELAs stated excuses for their lack of Membership take-up are, whilst apparently damning for the industry they are claiming to want to represent, frankly laughable – but most importantly a perfect example of why this parody of a ‘trade organisation’ was only ever going to crash and burn.

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                    1. cyberduck46

                      The only vested interest I have is understanding the issues that affect the company. I can make money out of their success or failure.

                       

                      I’m sure that the Auditor will find absolutely nothing wrong with PB’s accounts. Just as I am sure that some Estate Agents will continue to suggest otherwise and those same agents will continue to turn a blind eye to serious problems in the industry.

                       
                      Talking about vested interests. Here’s some advice you gave to somebody looking to buy property back in 2014 : “Drive around. Talk to people walking their dogs/weeding their gardens – ask them what the area is like. They have no reason to tell you porkies. DON’T ask a homeowner who is selling, OR an Estate Agent – they have vested interests in telling you what you want to hear.”
                       
                       

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                    2. PeeBee

                      And – your point being?
                      Do you disagree with that advice for some reason?

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                    3. PeeBee

                      Well…?

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                    4. cyberduck46

                      >And – your point being?
                      >You have a vested interest in this company – even if you are not gaining from it today.
                       
                      My point is to clarify that I do not have a vested interest in the success of PB as it doesn’t matter to me whether they are successful or not. I search for the truth and all I see from most traditional estate agents who respond to articles on PB here is disingenuity, bias, hypocrisy & bitterness.
                       
                      PeeBee 2017: “I have worked within for nearly forty years – honestly and diligently, I add… just like the vast majority of my peers with whom I am proud to work alongside – both colleagues and competitors.”
                       
                      PeeBee 2014: “Drive around. Talk to people walking their dogs/weeding their gardens – ask them what the area is like. They have no reason to tell you porkies. DON’T ask a homeowner who is selling, OR an Estate Agent – they have vested interests in telling you what you want to hear.”
                       
                      So you are proud to work with people who will tell a potential buyer that the house they are interested in buying is in a safe area when in fact it isn’t?
                       
                      I should perhaps add that your above quote from 2014 followed the advice “Stick to ‘safe’ areas for reselling. Better to pick up the cheapest house in one of the ‘better’ areas than the most expensive house in a cr@ppy one – you’ll have to sell it to someone else one day!”
                       
                       
                       
                       

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                    5. PeeBee

                      “So you are proud to work with people who will tell a potential buyer that the house they are interested in buying is in a safe area when in fact it isn’t?”

                      WHERE and WHEN have I said that? 

                      Please feel free to cut’n’paste every example – or email them to our lovely Editor – I’m sure Frau Renshaw would love to do an article on it… the chance to put me under my own spotlight for all the grief I’ve undoubtedly caused her over the last near-decade.

                      “I should perhaps add that your above quote from 2014 followed the advice “Stick to ‘safe’ areas for reselling. Better to pick up the cheapest house in one of the ‘better’ areas than the most expensive house in a cr@ppy one – you’ll have to sell it to someone else one day!” “

                      I’m more than a little confused here – and would ask the following:

                      1.  Are you in some way suggesting that I have not given a prospective buyer sound, sensible, impartial advice?

                      2.  Was I being unhelpful in some way, shape or form?

                      3.  Was the advice – in any way you can categorically prove – disingenuous?

                      The floor is yours, ducky… and I haven’t needed to roll this old cherry out for a while so I take great pleasure in saying –

                      Bring.

                      It.

                      On.

                      And oh, boy – do I look forward to your response.

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                    6. cyberduck46

                      I will not elaborate further or keep checking back to see what is posted. Time to move on to the next topic.
                       
                      I have a feeling it’s going to be a busy day 🙂

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                    7. PeeBee

                      “I will not elaborate further or keep checking back to see what is posted. Time to move on to the next topic.”

                      You will not elaborate?  B0ll0cks – you cannot elaborate.

                      Instead you retreat to lick your wounds, feigning you can no longer be bothered.

                      #duckshoot

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              3. Property Paddy

                I see 178 off the market could be 100% withdrawn instructions…… or an I being disingenuous ?
                second we care about how many properties are sold because we work on commission after the sale, no pre payment.
                PB are a listing service first, a conveyance referal system second, the actual selling of a property is simply am irrelevant by product !!!

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                1. cyberduck46

                  >I see 178 off the market could be 100% withdrawn instructions…… or an I being disingenuous ?
                   
                  Unless you know very little about PB then I think it would be disingenuous to come to the conclusion that 178 of the listings are withdrawn instructions.
                   
                  Do you realise Property Paddy that PB’s accounts & accompanying statements will be audited and anything that is not substantiated by the audit will be flagged up? The auditor doesn’t check everything but something that is stated on the first page under the heading “business highlights” would be flagged up if it was clearly way off what they are seeing.
                   
                  From Business Highlights:
                   
                  “Sold and completed on over £5.8bn of UK property (further £3.69bn in pipeline SSTC)”
                   
                  “Sale agreed in the UK every 9 minutes 24/7”
                   
                   
                   

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                  1. PeeBee

                    “Do you realise Property Paddy that PB’s accounts & accompanying statements will be audited and anything that is not substantiated by the audit will be flagged up?”

                    I’m sorry – what kind of complete, utter flim-flam is that? 

                    What possible point of reference is there in that to the point that Property Paddy has made?

                    Tell you what – how’s about you substantiate your comment.  Go on – shut us up – SHOW US WHERE in PBs Trading Statements, Powerpoint presentations, audited accounts, UNaudited accounts, advertising billshuttery or anywhere else available anywhere on the globe do PB make “substantiated” reference to the numbers, percentages, fractions – or to the precise size in yottabytes of their ‘dead listings’ file on someone’s desktop – in relation to ‘properties withdrawn’.

                    In fact – show us ANY REFERENCE AT ALL.

                    “Unless you know very little about PB then I think it would be disingenuous to come to the conclusion that 178 of the listings are withdrawn instructions.”

                    Hmmm – I would have to suggest that it would be equally disingenUous to come to the conclusion that 178 of the listings are “sold” – as per your suggestion:“This means 178 have gone off the market…  So one sold every 9 minutes seems about right.”

                    Erm… an OOPS moment (or two) there, ducky?

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  7. mrharvey

    It’s stories like this that make me sick. Millions and millions of pounds go into a business in a completely different context to the hundreds of pounds that a well meaning customer pays to try and sell their home.

    So the big boys who don’t need the millions, get more millions. And Joe Public loses a few hundred quid (which really, really matters to him) and he doesn’t get to sell his home.

    It’s just really s****y that money (which is so important to everyone) has this bizarre balance where the ones with the most get more, and the ones with the least get less.

    PB represents a lot about what I hate in the world, and they sure do find a way of ruining my Friday…

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    1. MarkRowe

      That comment, right there, should receive ‘comment of the year’!
      couldn’t agree more, @mrharvey!

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      1. AgentV

        I agree too…..on top of it all they want to use any tactic they can, including misleading the public, to push many small businesses under and people out of jobs…..for their own profit.

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  8. KByfield04

    The old adage will eventually shine through: ‘turnover is vanity profit is sanity’. Uness they can leverage this considerably in next couple of years people will tire. £200k ‘profit’ is EBITDA so I await the full ‘after tax’ figures which will, undoubtedly be more lost millions. Even if you take the £200k ‘profit’ at face value on a turnover of £43.2m that is a 0.46% profit. How is that ‘success’? The industry average is around 12% – around x26 as ‘successful’ with the leading agents in profit achieveing over 30%. They might be on rack to be the highest value ‘agency’ in UK history but they cant possibly justify ‘most successful’. Yawn.

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