Purplebricks Group (PURP) came under fire as analysts at Berenberg warned the embattled online estate agent had “flown too close to the sun” with its overseas expansion and slashed their price target on the stock from 470p to just 80p. Berenberg downgraded its recommendation on the stock from “buy” to “sell” and criticised the estate agent’s upfront fee model. Unlike traditional estate agents, Purplebricks charges vendors an upfront fee for advertising their homes for sale, rather than after the sale. Analysts also warned that the challenging environment UK estate agents had experienced over the last couple of years was here to stay “in the short term”.
GVC Holdings (GVC), Britain’s biggest bookmaker, has come out of the traps quickly, posting a strong growth in the weeks running up to a crackdown on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). Net gaming revenue swelled by 8% in the three months to March, the Ladbrokes and Coral owner said in a short statement. Investors were reassured by boss Kenny Alexander, who said GVC was “confident” annual profit expectations could be met after “an excellent start to the year”. Fears had been raised on two fronts. Mr Alexander and chairman Lee Feldman dumped almost £20m in shares last month, sparking a sharp stock market sell-off amid speculation that bad news could be in the offing.
