Purplebricks shares soar again after new Stock Exchange statement

Purplebricks’ share price shot up yesterday after the firm issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange confirming what it had said in a tweet.

Yesterday’s announcement said that the company had seen “record monthly valuations and instructions activity in January (as mentioned in a tweet by the Company on 26 January”.

At one stage the shares lifted to 199p – very close to last Friday’s record high of 201p.

They finished up 15.5p at 195p, a rise of 8.45%.

The share price hit the record 201p the day after last Thursday’s tweet – but then fell back after Purplebricks made a first statement to the Stock Exchange late on Friday which said it did not know why the shares moved upwards.

The Financial Times reported that yesterday’s update to the Stock Exchange followed “conversations between the group’s nominated adviser (Nomad), Zeus Capital, and the UK Listing Authority, the securities regulator, according to a person briefed on the situation”.

The FT’s report described Purplebricks as “still-loss making”, and quoted City analyst Anthony Codling, of Jefferies, who said: “It appears to us that while Purplebricks may be disrupting the UK estate agency market, the UKLA will not let its tweets disrupt the workings of the London Stock Exchange.”

The FT reports that the UKLA declined to comment.

The Financial Conduct Authority said yesterday it does not comment on individual companies.

There is some interesting coverage here

The FT story is at https://www.ft.com/content/73d2f63c-e707-11e6-893c-082c54a7f539 although it can only be read by subscribers.

Update:  In today’s Daily Mail, a story on their City pages under the headline “Tweet lands online estate agent in a heap of trouble”, Russ Mould, investment director at stockbroker AJ Bell, said the the confusion at Purplebricks in recent days shows “the power of social media and how it needs to be handled carefully”. He went on: “Twitter is clearly not a suitable forum for the dissemination of price-sensitive information.”

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17 Comments

  1. AgentV

    They could clear everything up to everybody’s satisfaction, particularly investors, by announcing the numbers……the numbers of unique new property listings each month over the last few months and the numbers of sale completions. Simples!!!!!

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  2. PeeBee

    Their ‘record-breaking month’/’good start to the year’/add next statement here surely ends today.

    FIFTY FOUR ‘listings’ were added to Zoopla between midnight and 0010 – presumably some or all of these will be added to the numbers fed to the City.

    Oh – but they don’t actually feed NUMBERS, do they…?

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    1. AgentV

      Do we know if these properties were all new unique listings? Seems a strange time to launch them.

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      1. PeeBee

        I’m working on it.

        Let’s just say that first impressions don’t bode well for ‘Uniqueness Factor’…

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        1. PeeBee

          Not looking good AT ALL…

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          1. inthefield

            Im waiting with bated breath….. Is the answer going to be on this thread or the next PB story which is bound to be tomorrow!?

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            1. PeeBee

              Your breath will, I’m afraid, have to remain bated.

              I need to do an awful lot of cross-checking of data before the cat is let out of the bag.

              I will say, however – that this particular cat has early indications of making The Beast of Bodmin look like a proper wussypussy!

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  3. AgentV

    Maybe the truth is that they won’t release the numbers because the latest adverts haven’t hit it off as well with the public as they had hoped… because people are intelligent and realise it’s more about #CONmisery!!!

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  4. Robert May

    Most people have worked out I tend to think a bit differently to most folk,  I see the benefits, the opportunities and warnings almost 180 degrees out of sync with everyone else.

    Every penny that is  being ploughed into Purplebricks  is a penny that isn’t available to other firms in the disruption sector, sooner or later the  losses will catch up with the bit players who can’t secure investment simply because Purplebricks is grabbing all the investor attention.  Firms that are struggling and barely viable  won’t be able to convince  even their  closest and most loyal supporters to stump up yet another tranche of life support.  Those that seem to already be trading insolvent will be force to shut up shop.

    There is now no denying that the  exaggerated claims for grabbing market share have failed to materialise, the trading profits  just aren’t happening.  The pay to list industry has stalled at about 3.6% market share and now about 58% of that disruption is  commanded by one firm investment in the others who simply can’t compete will now dry up.  The main distruption is  happening within the disruption sector itself.  From what I can see even those firms with  pay to sell traditional agencies will have a hard job convincing  their shareholders disruption is working. it isn’t profitable and therefore isn’t viable.

    Although we are unlikely to see the accounts for a few agents in the sector for a good few months as they attempt to put a brave face on a difficult market, lenders and investors  will have a right to see numbers,  the lack of shouty news about secured investment for  a very long time now is a very telling silence.

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    1. AgentV

      Whilst all that you say is welcome, I am still wary of the rising share price….will that not allow further investment to be raised, allowing more subsidised property sales which will start taking more and more money out of our small business pots in a ‘decreasing numbers of instructions’ market? What about if the numbers of unique listings are increasing to over 3,000 per month….even though we might believe they aren’t. We could all be sitting thinking its all going to fizzle out….whilst there are plans afoot to raise a stack more of investment. Every pound investment raised is like two pounds or more off our turnover.

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      1. Robert May

        As long as it’s not your money I really wouldn’t worry about.

        If you are spending approximately 63.08% of your income on television advertising to maintain your market share there is only so long a business will be allowed to continue to make losses especially as the novelty wears off and the pay to list experience starts to become less alluring.

         

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  5. Thomas Flowers

    Does this mean the regulators are awakening?

    Surely time trading standards realise that if you pay upfront for a ‘service’ you must show your monthly listing to sales % conversion so that consumers understand their chances of selling before they risk losing £900 or so?

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    1. Thomas Flowers

      Forgot to mention that those listing and sale numbers must also be audited by the UK securities regulator so as to show that customers and investors could not be mislead by any tweets and such like?

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  6. Property Paddy

    “but then fell back after Purplebricks made a first statement to the Stock Exchange late on Friday which said it did not know why the shares moved upwards.”

     

    They’re not alone on that one.

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  7. Woodentop

    For a stock market to work efficiently and fairly, two principles must apply: companies need to release relevant information as soon as it is available; and all those who want to deal in shares should have access to the same information at the same time.

    Rules to that effect are contained in the FSA’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR) and apply to companies with a full listing on the London Stock Exchange. The fourth of the FSA’s Listing Principles ensures adherence to the spirit as well as the letter of the DTR: a listed company must communicate information to holders and potential holders of its listed equity securities in such a way as to avoid the creation or continuation of a false market.

    Replies on a postcard please!
     

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    1. AgentV

      Excelent find and point made!

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    2. Thomas Flowers

      Well said Woodentop.

      Forget replies on a postcode, why not tweet them!

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