Cushman & Wakefield’s chief executive said the agency’s European business has seen little impact from the war in Ukraine during a bumper start to the year.
Speaking on an analyst call to discuss the firm’s first-quarter results, John Forrester said Europe has shown an “innate capability of providing investors, in particular, with alternative markets and market profiles”.
“We had a stellar performance in EMEA in the first quarter, [a] very substantial EBITDA contribution from our EMEA business, which, typical to our sector, is normally pretty quiet in terms of profit contribution in Q1, given the seasonality of not only the business, but also the payments of bonuses and the like,” Forrester said.
“And that record first quarter in EMEA, of course, shows no reflection of any – either pending or known – impact on the overall business of what we’re seeing in Eastern Europe [and] the Ukraine… What we’re seeing is actually a reallocation of capital through different sectors and different geographies in Europe, all adding up to record volumes in Q1.”
Elsewhere on the call, Forrester noted that global cities are “leading the jobs recovery, and also leading the office recovery”, with almost half of office markets globally posting positive demand for office space in the first quarter.
“We are seeing very significant lease term acquisitions in the tenant market, approaching the stabilised lease terms that we saw pre-pandemic,” he added. “And a lot of this business is being driven by occupiers seeking to benefit from the incentives that can be achieved by taking long leases. That’s always been part of the make-up of the market. But I think it does point to the fact that the office remains a fundamental part of the operational structure of companies and how they think about their workforce going forward.”
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