LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - AIM-listed Property Franchise Group warned on Wednesday that underlying profits for the full year are likely to be below market expectations.
The company said trading in the six months to the end of June has been "encouraging", with revenue of around £4.7m and pre-tax profit of approximately £2.1m including exceptional items. Its traditional high street brand businesses have continued to perform well, with revenue up 4% on the year to £3.8m and profits up 22% to £2m.

However, Franchise said the disruption caused by the early departure of the EweMove co-founders at the end of June - announced in March - meant that EweMove's trading position is behind management expectations with unaudited losses at the half year of £300,000 versus a target loss of £100,000, on revenues of £900,000. As a result, full-year profits are expected to be below market views.

"The board remains committed to EweMove, which it believes continues to offer significant growth prospects in the medium term. EweMove has over 100 franchisees and the group's strategy remains to scale the business over the next 2 years. The business recruited 18 new franchisees in the first six months of 2017 and management services fees revenue is up 35% year-on-year to £0.6m."

At 1455 BST, the shares were down 11% to 121p.

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