High demand for London homes helps drive record sales at Savills
PROPERTY agent Savills yesterday said strong demand for London properties had helped drive full year revenues to a record high.
The firm, which specialises in property development, planning and valuation, said revenue grew 12 per cent to £904.8m last year, with pre-tax profit up 35 per cent to £70.1m.
Its UK estate agent business, which opened three new London offices last year to cope with the growing demand for properties in the capital, saw profit rise by 34 per cent. The volume of property transactions rose 13 per cent year-on-year in London, but it said the number of sales were still 15 per cent below their 2007 peak.
Commercial transaction profits in the UK were up 58 per cent which Savills said reflected its higher market share in prime central London transactions as well as a recovery in the surrounding regions. It said it expected this strong performance to continue, but warned availability of commercial stock, in particular, was “increasingly a challenge”.
Group chief executive Jeremy Helsby said he was “delighted” with the results.