Purplebricks confirms it is abandoning US expansion

British property portal, Purplebricks, has released its annual results for the year ending in April 30, 2019

The hybrid agency has posted an operating loss of £52.3 million, up from £27.8 million in 2018. It does, however, report a UK operating profit of £5.3 million.

It reports total revenue up by 55% to £136.5 million and UK revenue up by 21% to £90.1 million.

As expected, the agency has also announced that it will be withdrawing from the US market following a review launched in May. 

The agency says its decision to withdraw from both the US and Australian property markets this year will allow it to 'significantly reduce cash burn going forward'.

In the year to April 30, the agency completed on over £10 billion of UK property with average revenue per instruction at £1,243, up by 6%.

Purplebricks also claims to have 76% share of the online agency market.

"It’s been another year of strong revenue growth and we continue to build a highly relevant disruptive brand and defensible position in the market," says Vic Darvey, Purplebricks Cief Executive.

"We have taken the difficult decisions to exit our businesses in both Australia and the US as it is very important that we now focus our resources on the UK and Canada, where we have a strong established presence and where there are significant opportunities to grow market share and deliver profitable growth for shareholders." 

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