Sherry Fitzgerald says last year was ‘exceptionally difficult’  – as its revealed the group made a pretax loss of 15.5 million euro.

The estate agents said ‘very difficult trading conditions’ had seen house prices and the number of sales fall significantly.

Although such conditions continued into this year, Sherry Fitzgerald believes the reduction in their cost base and the diversified nature of their business will see the group return to profitability as markets improve.