Lettings franchise group Belvoir Lettings has suffered a setback in its profits. 

In the six months to the end of June, the London-listed company posted pre-tax profit of £747,000, a 3.3 per cent decline year-on-year. Revenue dropped 18.1 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2014.

Belvoir blamed the uncertainty leading up to the May election for unsettling both the market and its own growth plans, but says its pipeline of future franchises is now stable.

“We are encouraged that our support of franchisee growth through targeted acquisitions is bearing fruit with a 14 per cent growth in our management service fees,” said group chief executive Mike Goddard.

“The impact of this and our stronger recruitment pipeline will start to show in the second half and underpins our medium-term growth plans” he says.

The group’s added services fees rose 20 per cent year-on-year to £1.8m, while the total number of outlet has now increased to a total of 197 having been 166 at the end of June.

A series of cost-cutting measures has resulted in an 11 per cent reduction in administrative expenses, which has partly offset the slump in revenue.