Foxtons is latest firm to brace itself for inevitable hit to business from coronavirus pandemic

London estate agent Foxtons has issued a trading update in which it said it was bracing itself for a “material disruption to trading in the coming months”.

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The listed agent, which sells homes in London and the home counties said business had met expectations for the first 11 weeks of the year – until last Friday – and that it was still too early to predict what the impact of covid-19 will be on the business.

It said: “The company notes the necessary defensive measures taken by the government affecting London and the UK along with the significantly weakened economic outlook.

“We do anticipate an inevitable material disruption to trading in the coming months.”

The warning came as building materials supplier Travis Perkins issued an update with much the same message, saying it expected the trading environment to “change quickly and materially in the coming weeks.”

The firm joined housebuilders Berkeley Group, McCarthy & Stone and Crest Nicholson in suspending dividend payments and said that it was withdrawing all market guidance in the near-term.

Shares in housebuilders rose sharply in early morning trading following four days of solid losses and a month in which many have lost more than half of their value. The largest, Barratt, rose nearly 8% early today.

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