Online agency firm loses £9m with liabilities of almost £23m after easyProperty deal

Online agency firm loses £9m with liabilities of almost £23m after easyProperty deal

New accounts filed at Companies House show that E-Prop Limited lost £9m, with liabilities of £22.8m, in the period from October 1, 2016, to the end of December 2017.

The accounts of the firm, a company in the same stable as the Guild, Fine & Country and easyProperty, have only just been filed at Companies House. The period covers the time when easyProperty merged with the Guild parent company in a £60m deal.

The company says in the documents that it believes that both the loss and current liabilities are appropriate.

The company reported equity of minus £22,809,707 as at the end of 2017, compared with equity of minus £13,767,271 the previous year.

The newly filed accounts say that the company is reliant on funds provided by its parent company, eProp Services and that the parent company has indicated that it will continue to make funds available and not call in the debts.

The firm says that this should enable the company to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, by meeting its liabilities as they fall due for payment.

However, the accounts say that the directors acknowledge there can be no certainty that this support will continue.

In the accounts, the named directors of E-Prop are R G Ellice and J A Cooke.

Rob Ellice launched online agent easyProperty, later acquired in a reverse deal by GPEA, parent company of the Guild and Fine & Country. Cooke is CEO of eProp Services of which E-Prop is a subsidiary.

e-Prop Services reported losses of £2.65m.

Cooke last night told EYE that the latest filed accounts for E-Prop were historic, for a period which encompassed the deal and its associated costs, done in July 2017 with easyProperty.

Cooke said that moving into this year, the business is in a cash-generative position, with 14 new easyProperty licensees currently being taken on board.

He said: “I am very comfortable with the way we are looking.”