Lsl Property Services Share Discussion Threads

[m.t.glass] 03/7/2008 09:49

Estate agency Douglas & Gordon reveals that, of the 7,000 buyers who have registered with it since Home Information Packs were introduced, just 16 have asked to see a HIP.
(Tgraf, 3 July)

[chapchip] 27/6/2008 09:06

today Countrywide have said that they are making redundant 1500 people or 14% of their work force.

as for how busy surveyors are....well last week i had the first ever drop in from a surveyor trying to drum up business as things were so dead.....it wasn t a one man band........he was from Colleys...HBOS surveying arm. if thye are struggling you can bet that LSL are too

[m.t.glass] 27/6/2008 05:41

Gloomy Outlook

The U.K. housing market may not recover until 2018, derivatives contracts pegged to the HBOS home price index indicate, according to Tradition Financial Services.

``This is all about availability of credit,'' said Jim Ward, a research director at Savills Plc, the U.K. property broker that's lost 60 percent of its market value in a year. Home prices will drop between 10 percent and 25 percent by the end of 2009, he said.

Other companies in the industry trying to reduce their costs include LSL Property Services Plc, operator of Britain's third-largest chain of estate agencies. It eliminated 200 jobs and closed 12 of its Your Move and Reeds Reins branches in the fourth quarter after the number of transactions fell by a third.

Humberts Plc, a property-services company employing more than 700 people, agreed to sell all of its units to Mercantile Group June 11 after a slump in business.

(Bloomberg.com 26 June)

[m.t.glass] 24/6/2008 14:27

LSL's profit warning a month ago included assurance that its survey division was unaffected and continues to perform strongly.

I didn't believe that was true then, and I certainly think it must be untrue now. A further statement reversing that assurance would be no surprise.

[theoriginalface] 20/6/2008 13:41

I'm sure a general bounce in building stocks won't hurt other related property ones but not sure how this news affects lsl's bottom line particularly. See RMV today for the performance of a more closely related stock.

[m4m] 20/6/2008 13:33

Banks helping the builders part of the reason for the rise?



Rumours of Barratt deal send construction stocks up
By MoneyhighStreet Staff. Published on June 20, 2008





There comes a time when you have to buy the fear and the prev time the share price crossed up on the 20MA it gave a 40% rise.

[theoriginalface] 20/6/2008 13:20

massive volume today, in line with large short closing, guess we'll see how volume stacks up monday.

[aughton 3] 20/6/2008 13:07

they have done this before on other stocks , very dodgy, letting people open positions a few days ago and now asking to close and only giving a short period of time to do it, the mms get wind ramp the price, i will no longer trade with them thats for sure

[kristini2] 20/6/2008 12:16

spoke to man today--they said that borrowed stock was being called in--started
buying back to close. Beware shorting illiquid stocks!

[theoriginalface] 20/6/2008 12:13

mtg - that was my take also.

a3 - do you have any more details on this? do you know by what date they were forced to buy back by? i.e. has this effect now fully washed through?

[m.t.glass] 20/6/2008 12:10

Well at least if the recent rises are indeed down to buying associated with the enforced closure of shorts, that will provide only temporary artificial support. Thereafter normal market forces will dictate.

[aughton 3] 20/6/2008 11:57

fact 1 company has caused this MAN grp insisting clients buy back this stinks , FSA should look at this

[theoriginalface] 20/6/2008 11:04

i'm guessing a lot of people who shorted lsl would have set stops just above £1?? that rise would have taken them out, and generated a few trades? unless there is more to it?

[m.t.glass] 20/6/2008 10:59

Felix - yeah, I love the way this company tries to kid the world (or maybe even itself) that surveying is somewhow unconnected with property market activity! The two divisions are joined at the hip (so to speak!). Most of their surveys arise via referrals from estate agencies.

[theoriginalface] 20/6/2008 10:54

£100m for a chain of estate agents, who have issued a profit warning, that carries that much intangible on its bs....nope, don't get that i'm afraid.

[handycam] 20/6/2008 10:53

Bull trap.

[felix99] 20/6/2008 10:52

ah but they are not just estate agents. Most of their business is surveying so everything is ok !

IF housing transactions fall so will surveying. Strange rise though agreed

[m.t.glass] 20/6/2008 10:51

Certainly seems to be defying gravity.

Some housebuilder stocks are up on news that they will be allowed to account for asset revaluations in a way that doesn't so readily threaten banking covenants. But I don't see why that should lift estate agents.

[theoriginalface] 20/6/2008 10:43

I struggle to understand the movements in this share price sometimes - why is it up today? Is there some sort of good news about the housing markets or estate agents that i've missed?

[crickley] 11/6/2008 11:39

EK in t1ps today reckons that opportunities like this to short sell are few and far between.

He's got a fantastic record of calling it right with many of his shorts. 60p next stop I reckon.

[m.t.glass] 06/6/2008 12:43

Estate agent Peter Alan has announced it is to cut 19 jobs and close its branch at Mumbles in Swansea.
The firm, which is owned by the building society Principality, has blamed the slowdown in the credit market for the decision.
The company said over the past decade it had become "the leading estate agency across south Wales with a 220-strong team across 25 branches".
However it said its business was "not immune to market conditions".

Darlows, who are equally well known in South Wales, also closed branches last month.


Just another indicator for the sector on which LSL is so dependent

[chapchip] 02/6/2008 09:39

costs are being trimmed....7 people where given their notice last week in the Bishops Stortford/Stansted area of their outlet, under the name of Inter County.

I d expect that is being mirrored across the country