Real estate group Jigsaw Holdings, which houses real estate networks Aida, Electronic Realty Associates (ERA) and Realty 1 Elk, reported a turnaroundin its fortunes on Friday.

Jigsaw reported a net profit of R705 000 for the year to February compared with the R23,4m loss of the previous year.

The group, which focuses on realestate franchising, valuations and therelated financial services market in SA, said that real-estate networksAida, ERA and Realty 1 Elk performed well because of the introduction ofseveral initiatives.

"This is also reflected in a net increase of 34 new franchises," thegroup said. Jigsaw 's development operation, Machaus, also achieved "significantgrowth in all areas" during the reporting period.

However, the company was not paying any dividends for the year.

First signs of improvement at Jigsaw were seen in its interim resultsfor the half-year to last August, when it posted an after-tax profit ofR576 000 against a R4,1m loss for the same period the previous year.

At the time it released the interim results Jigsaw said that there hadbeen "unjustified negative perceptions" of the group as a result of a numberof franchisees withdrawing from its network.

During the same interim period, though, the company reported a net increaseof eight franchisees.

Business Day