Auctions behind Alliance growth
2006-08-02
Unlisted holding company Alliance Group, which owns auction and valuation companies, said yesterday its turnover for the year to June was R2bn and that it expected it to increase 20% in the next financial year.
Alliance Group CEO Rael Levitt said its auction business operated by Auction Alliance had been the "main driver" of its results.
?Auctions are becoming a first-choice method of sale, particularly in the commercial property sector because they are transparent. Auctions achieve good market value and it has become a new forum where properties are traded,? said Levitt.
He said Auction Alliance's biggest clients were the listed property sector. Levitt said auctions were a quicker and easier route to sell property than using brokers on the open market.
He said Auction Alliance's auction commission revenue had grown 400% over the past three years and "well surpassed the R100m mark in the third quarter".
The company now has 10 branches across SA with the most recent office opened in Port Elizabeth.
The biggest growth in revenue from the auction business came from KwaZulu-Natal, where revenues grew 301%.
"The market there (KwaZulu-Natal) has taken to auctions. There has also been a strong growth in the commercial property market there," said Levitt.
He said the group's valuation business, operated by Valuation Alliance, had "grown dramatically" in its first year of operation.
"We're the biggest independent valuation company in SA."
He said the company had conducted 11000 valuations by its June year-end.
Alliance Group said the valuation revenues were up 650% on the previous year before its valuation services were stripped out of Auction Alliance and placed in a standalone entity.
The group said growth had been particularly strong after the acquisition of valuation company Davis Langdon Crosher James in August last year.
In May this year the group announced that empowerment groups Amabubesi and Bamaka Investments had acquired a 25% interest in the group.
Source: eProp - www.eprop.co.za
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