Purplebricks, the online estate agency, has confirmed it is pulling out of the US market - just weeks after it took the decision to leave Australia.
The company used the publication of its full-year results, which showed losses almost doubling, to formally announce the US exit after a report by Sky News on Tuesday. It said the decision to either sell or close the operation would cost it between £4m-£6m in its current financial year and allow the company to"refocus on its flagship markets" of the UK and Canada.Michael Bruce founded Purplebricks with his brother Kenny, who remains with the company. Pic: Purplebricksin May when the move from Australia was confirmed - admitting then it had sought to expand too rapidly.
His replacement, Vic Darvey, sought to reassure investors on Wednesday that Purplebricks would now seek to build on the strong foundations it had established.Its investment in the Australia and US helped drive a £52.3m operating loss in the year to 30 April despite a 55% leap in group revenue to £136.5m.
Gross profits - reflecting the profitability of its day-to-day operations - were 61% up at almost £80m.
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