Australian services group UGL has posted a 15.3% fall in net profit to A$134.5m (£90.4m) in its annual results and warned of continuing global uncertainty .
The results for the year to the end of June included A$34m (£23m) in costs relating to its £77.5m pre-pack administration deal to buy global real estate services company DTZ in December.
Underlying net profit, which excludes one-off financial items, was A$168.3m, up 2% in the eleventh consecutive year of underlying earnings growth.
The firm delivered the profit on the back of a 5% increase in operating revenue which was up to A$4.8bn.
Underlying earnings per share rose 2% to 101.3c and a final dividend of 35c a share has been declared by the group’s board.
The UGL Services division, which includes DTZ, posted a 21% hike in revenue to A$1.6bn, while earnings before interest and tax rose 25% to A$95.4, representing a margin of 5.9%.
The company added that the “record financial performance for the business reflects the momentum already being generated by the acquisition of DTZ and the creation of a unique, truly global end-to-end property services model”.
It added that the Services order book supported continued strong earnings growth following an increase of 25% to A$3.6bn as at 30 June 2012.
A statement from the group said: “The strength in order book growth is supported by a significant increase in the conversion rate of securing new business since the DTZ acquisition with international activity increasing strongly and continuing to grow.
“With the scale and reach of our integrated platform, we are now tendering for mandates of a size and complexity we would not have successfully tendered for prior to the acquisition of DTZ. Globally, bidding levels for property services are robust and we anticipate continued growth in our share of global mandates and cross-border activity.”
UGL managing director and chief executive Richard Leupen said: “The 2012 financial year has been transformative for UGL’s property services business following the acquisition of the trading operations of DTZ Holdings plc in December 2011.
“The business has delivered a record financial performance, showing initial signs of the strength and momentum of our truly global platform.”
Looking ahead, he added: “Continuing global economic uncertainty increases the difficulty of predicting trading outcomes in the 2013 financial year. Nevertheless, UGL expects its property services business to grow strongly again in FY2013 with the DTZ acquisition on track.”
Bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
