Purplebricks shareholders reject call to oust chair Pindar
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Monday 19 Dec 2022
(Sharecast News) - Purplebricks shareholders on Monday rejected a proposal by major investor Lecram Holdings to oust the online estate agency's chair Paul Pindar.
The company said 71.71% of votes were cast in the general meeting against the resolution, while 58.2% rejected Lecram's call to appoint Rightmove founder Harry Hill to the board.
"I want to reassure all shareholders that we understand their concerns. Our past performance has not been good enough. But we have a new team, with an agreed plan that is being delivered at pace," said Purplebricks chief executive Helena Marston in a statement after the meeting.
"The operational changes implemented over the last four months will be clear for all to see at our final results, in terms of a substantially improved cash and profit performance. We take nothing for granted and we are fully committed to driving improved performance, higher standards and value for all stakeholders."
"The housing market will be what it will be in 2023 but we have a value driven customer proposition, right sized our cost base by £17m, and laid the foundations for a more balanced business with the recent launch of new revenue streams and a plan to grow our lettings business. There is a big opportunity for Purplebricks and we want the opportunity to deliver it."
Lecram is a vehicle for investor Adam Smith, and has grown its stake in the online estate agent to 5.16%, allowing it to call an extraordinary general meeting in order to propose Pindar's replacement.
In July, Lecram lashed out at Pindar's "highly unsatisfactory performance" as chair and said urgent action was "essential to stabilise [Purplebricks] and restore its credibility within the investment community".
Purplebricks last month reported a widening of its first-half losses on but said it was on track to meet full-year expectations as its turnaround plan was being delivered "at pace".
In the six months to the end of October, operating losses widened to £11.7m from 11.1m in the same period a year earlier, with revenue down 16% to £34.5m.
Instructions were steady during the period, at 21,205, while average revenue per instruction dipped 1% to £1,624. Total fee income was also down 1%, at £34.4m.
Purplebricks reiterated guidance for FY23 revenue of between £67.5m and £72.5m and said EBITDA was expected to be in line with market consensus for a loss of £8.8m.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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