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Anywhere is on track to meet its ambitious cost-cutting goals, setting it up for further success once the housing market stabilizes, according to CEO Ryan Schneider.
The franchisor and owner of brokerages including Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and Sotheby’s International Realty is halfway to its goal of delivering $200 million in savings by the end of the year, having identified $100 million in savings by the year’s mid-point, according to its July 25 earnings report.
Much of those savings have come in the form of layoffs, with the company reducing its headcount by 15 percent throughout 2023, according to its own calculations.
In a Tuesday interview with CNBC, Schneider explained that the cost-cutting measures the company was taking would now leave it well-positioned to take advantage once the housing market returns to a semblance of normalcy.
“We reported about $125 million of EBITDA this quarter which is awesome in the challenging market and we think distinguishes ourselves from a number of our competitors,” Schneider said. “If you pair that with the cost changes we’re making to make ourselves more streamlined in this environment, you can imagine the octane we’re going to have economically when the housing market comes back to much more normal levels, so we’re pretty excited about it.”
The company formerly known as Realogy reported revenue of $1.7 billion for the second quarter on Tuesday — a 22 percent decrease year over year. The second quarter, however, saw Anywhere return to profitability after two straight quarters of losses, with a net income of $19 million for Q2.
In addition to cutting costs, the company announced on Tuesday that it has entered into a debt exchange agreement with the investment manager Angelo Gordon — to exchange $273 million of the 5.75% senior notes due 2029 and 5.25% senior notes due 2030 it holds for $218 million in new 7.0% second-lien secured notes due 2030.
Markets reacted positively to the earnings news, with the company’s stock price shooting up 8.5 percent at open and closing at $8.70 a share.
While it cuts costs, the company is also looking for ways to employ generative artificial intelligence and language models into the day-to-day workings of its business, Schneider said. And he argued that the technology will change how agents and consumers transact, as well as how Anywhere operates.
“My message to investors and potential investors,” he added, “is we want to be on that forefront of the journey, especially because we have more data than anyone else in the industry.”
