Management & AGM Statement

LSL Property Services 23 April 2008 For Immediate Release 23 April 2008 LSL Property Services PLC ('LSL') Interim Management Statement & AGM Statement LSL, a leading provider of residential estate agency, financial and surveying services, is today holding its 2008 Annual General Meeting and issues this first Interim Management Statement in respect of trading for the first quarter ended 31 March 2008. Roger Matthews, Chairman of LSL, will make the following statement: 'We are pleased to report that against a backdrop of an extremely challenging housing market, overall the Group is performing in line with management expectations for the period, confirming the resilience of LSL's business model in the face of a market downturn. This resilience is most evident in our Surveying division. In the first quarter ended 31 March 2008. • Group turnover for the period was down by 3% • Surveying turnover was up by 15% • Estate Agency and Financial Services turnover was down by 16% Surveying: Our Surveying division's activity and turnover is slightly ahead of our expectations and is underpinned by the new contract wins with Cheltenham & Gloucester plc and Barclays Bank plc, which started in the second half of 2007. In addition, the integration synergies identified with these contracts have started to come through and will deliver significant full year benefits. We also continue to benefit from strong relationships with leading lenders. Estate Agency & Financial Services: Trading in our Estate Agency division has been slightly below management expectations but continues to deliver cost efficiencies commensurate with lower activity levels. This division has been affected by the slowdown in the housing market. However, Estate Agency trading has been supported by the growth of counter cyclical revenue streams including lettings and the development of a new repossessions sales unit, both of which are making good progress. Financial Services income in the first quarter has been supported by a marked increase in re-mortgage activity and continues to make a valuable contribution to the business. Outlook: The Group has made a satisfactory start to the financial year despite a very difficult market. In particular our surveying division has proven to be resilient in the year to date through its flexible operating model and is expected to make further progress in the face of a continuing market downturn. However we expect market conditions to remain challenging for our Estate Agency division, with the outturn for the housing market in 2008 extremely difficult to predict. The Group is well placed to deliver significant growth when market conditions improve and to take advantage of value creating acquisition opportunities which are likely to arise as a result of the current market.' For further information please contact: Simon Embley, Group Chief Executive Officer Dean Fielding, Group Finance Director LSL Property Services plc 01904 715 324 Richard Darby, Nicola Cronk, Catherine Breen Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000 Notes to Editors: LSL Property Services plc is one of the leading residential property services companies in the UK and provides a broad range of services to its clients who are principally mortgage lenders, as well as buyers and sellers of residential properties. For further information, please visit our website: www.lslps.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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