6th Aug 2015 07:02
LONDON (Alliance News) - Property adviser Savills PLC on Thursday posted higher pretax profit and surging revenue in the first half of 2015, as it continued to benefit from robust property markets in the UK and Asia and got a further boost from its US business.
FTSE 250-listed Savills said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was up to GBP26.4 million, up from GBP24.7 million a year earlier, driven by a 27% increase in revenue to GBP547.0 million from GBP430.8 million.
Savills said its transaction advisory revenue grew by 55% in the half, driven by strong performances in the US, the UK commercial and Asia Pacific markets, which offset some weakness in the UK residential market in the run-up to the General Election in May. US revenue was up substantially in the half, driven by the contribution from the Savills Studley business, while global property management, consultancy and investment management revenue also increased.
Savills said it will pay an interim dividend of 4.0 pence per share, up from 3.75p a year earlier and said it remains confident on meeting its expectations for the full year.
"Savills has delivered a strong first half performance as a result of the contribution from Savills Studley in the US and the strength of our existing businesses in key transactional markets of the UK and Asia. Our performance in these markets mitigated the effect of the pre-election slowdown in the UK Residential market, where, lately, we have seen activity levels starting to improve," said Chief Executive Jeremy Helsby.
"Looking to the second half, we currently see no significant change in the overall outlook for our business. Our core markets continue to be highly demand-driven as a result of the continued substantial capital allocation to real estate around the world. Furthermore, in many markets we are now seeing rental growth and increased occupier confidence. Savills is well placed to act on the opportunities arising from occupier and investor demand globally," Helsby added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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