City analysts turn bearish on Purplebricks after expansion

PURPLEBRICKS 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”.

The downgrade and the 80pc cut in its price target sent shares, which were trading above £4 a piece a year ago, falling 8.4p to 129p.

Purplebricks fell by a third in February after it announced that difficult market conditions at home meant that full year revenues would fall short of expectations, and lost two executives.

Hopes for a trade deal between Washington and Beijing, and stronger-thanexpected US jobs numbers, helped keep the FTSE 100 in positive territory in afternoon trade.

The blue chip index ended at a six-month high of 7,428.12, up 44.9 points on the day, having enjoyed its biggest weekly rise in two months.

In New York, the S&P 500 was on track for seven days

of gains as the US economy added 196,000 jobs in March, while President Donald Trump encouraged traders by saying on Thursday that a trade deal could be concluded within four weeks.

Trade deal prospects spelt good news for London-listed miners, with

Antofagasta up 11.8p at 992.2p while Anglo

American added 47p to £21.85.

Advertising giant WPP extended its winning streak to eight days, climbing 16.8p to 869p, amid rising expectations among analysts that the ad market will improve this year.

Housebuilders, however, were among blue chip laggards of the FTSE 100 after data from Halifax showed house prices falling. Berkeley dropped 66p to £37.77 and Barratt

Developments 9.8p to 616p, while Persimmon closed down 21p at £22.25.

Motorpoint Group,

which sells used and nearly new cars across the UK, edged down 0.5p to 189.5p after warning that it endured a tougher second half of the year and that sales for the coming 12 months were set to be below analyst forecasts at 6pc.

The wheels continued to come off Stagecoach after analysts at Jefferies downgraded the FTSE 250 company to “underperform” from “hold”. Its shares, which fell 8pc after its update on Thursday, closed down another 8.6p at 138.9p.

The pound meanwhile slipped on doubts over Theresa May’s plans to ask for a Brexit delay.

Sterling, which has been trading around the $1.31 level since the start of March, touched a day low of $1.3014 as France and the Netherlands expressed doubts about the Prime Minister’s proposals.