Purplebricks first-half profit falls on high restructuring costs

(Reuters) - Online estate agent Purplebricks Group Plc <PURP.L> reported a lower first-half profit on Thursday due to higher restructuring costs following the closure of its U.S. and Australia businesses.

The company, which uses a low-fee model to win business from bigger and more established estate agents, said it had raised its property listing fees in the UK by 100 pounds in late October.

It has been a rough year for Purplebricks, with the departure of co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Bruce and change in ownership after the Bruce family disposed of its stake to Axel Springer, making the German media company its largest shareholder.

Following years of heavy investments in international markets, the company reversed its strategy under Darvey by shutting loss-making operations in the U.S. and Australia to focus on its flagship UK and Canada businesses.

Purplebricks said the losses and costs related to the closure of its U.S. and Australia businesses earlier this year was going as planned and within the range of 10 million pounds to 14 million pounds.

It reported an adjusted operating profit of 1.6 million pounds, compared to a profit of 6.2 million pounds a year earlier on a pro forma basis.

The company earned higher fees from selling more houses on its website and put forth a plan to grow its market share to 10% in its core market. UK average revenue per instruction (ARPI) rose 12% during the period, sending shares up nearly 4%.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Aniruddha Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)