Britain's biggest estate agency firm making loss

Britain’s largest estate agency business today said it was currently losing money after a further “marked deterioration” in the housing market.

Countrywide, which has 1,200 outlets including the Bairstow Eves and Mann & Co chains, expects a “material loss” for the final three months of the year after its pipeline of transactions at the end of October fell by a third on 2003.

Shares slipped 7% as Countrywide said the weak fourth quarter performance would cause annual profits to be significantly below market hopes. It also sounded a profits alert at the start of the market downturn in September.

Countrywide blamed the latest warning on potential house buyers delaying purchases in order to await the next move for prices and interest rates.

This has had a knock-on effect for the group’s financial services operation, which provides customers with mortgage services.

Countrywide also told the City that it was not optimistic about an immediate upturn.

It said: “We do not envisage any prospect of improvement in activity levels until the New Year at the earliest, and this lower level of market activity will consequently reduce our pipeline of business carried into 2005.”