Yahoo Finance Purplebricks shares plummet 60pc as it runs out of cash
Shares in Purplebricks have collapsed by more than 60pc after the troubled estate agent warned it could soon run out of cash.
In a trading update on Tuesday, Purplebricks said that falling numbers of properties on its books meant its earnings and revenue for the year were looking weaker than anticipated.
Instructions fell by nearly half in the last three months of 2022, dropping from 10,964 a year earlier to just 5,672.
The struggling business, which is seeking to sell itself in a rescue effort, warned it may run down its cash reserves as a result.
Purplebricks has £9.1m in the bank and the board no longer expects to return to profit this financial year.
The company said that a payment provider it works with had been withholding some funds as a result of its precarious position.
The board is now focusing on efforts to sell the business to stave off a cash crunch.
A “small number” of parties are in talks about buying Purplebricks and negotiations are ongoing.
However, the estate agent warned that the sale was likely to value Purplebricks at “materially below the company’s current share price”.
On Tuesday morning, Purplebricks’ share price fell by 3.3p to 2.15p. The stock was worth nearly £5 in 2017.
The online estate agent started looking for a buyer in February after a turbulent 18 months of scandals, a profit warning, and shareholder calls for the sacking of its chairman, Paul Pindar.
Purplebricks’ value has plunged by nearly 90pc since the start of this year.
