Savills says performance this year will meet expectations
GLOBAL real estate broker Savills yesterday said it expected its full-year performance to be in line with its expectations, as its European business continued to face challenging market conditions.
Savills said greater-than-expected cost savings of £60m for the year had enabled it to continue investing in its business “without adversely affecting our performance expectations for the year”.
Savills said its continental Europe and British commercial property operations had been challenged by low transaction volumes, particularly for prime-quality assets.
The US commercial property market remained largely inactive, while in Asia Pacific — especially Hong Kong and China — transaction volumes had improved in the third quarter, driven by strong demand from investors.
“Lately there are indications that this (Asia Pacific) lending-based rally may not be sustainable in the medium term,” Savills said.
Savills’ British residential unit had performed strongly, driven by a recovery in the markets of London and the South East. In August, Savills posted a first-half underlying pre-tax profit of £2.5m from £19.2m a year earlier.