Jones Lang LaSalle’s £197m purchase of King Sturge helped it deliver an improved European performance in a bumper set of global first-quarter results.
The Chicago-based firm saw global net profit surge to $14.2m (£8.8m) at the end of March from $1.6m at the same time last year. A recovering US market and a strong quarter for its investment management business also contributed to the company’s growth.
Adjusted net profit was $22m – or 50 cents a share – excluding one-off costs such as $2m of intangible amortisation related to last summer’s purchase of King Sturge.
Rival CBRE, which announced its quarterly figures last week, posted a 13% rise in adjusted net income to $46m, or 14 cents a share.
JLL’s global revenue grew by 18% to $813m, driven by double-digit growth in all geographic segments and services business lines. CBRE’s revenue rose by 14% to $1.35bn. Analyst JMP Securities estimated that the 18% revenue growth was “likely 8-11% excluding King Sturge”.
In EMEA – which historically delivers a loss in the first quarter – the firm narrowed its operating loss from $13m to $10.5m, on the back of a 31% increase in revenue to $213m.
Lauralee Martin, chief operating office and financial officer, said that although the firm could no longer accurately separate JLL and KS’s numbers, without the takeover revenue, growth in Europe would have been flat.
JLL’s long-term credit facility increased by $169m to $632m in Q1, driven by “incentive compensation payments”. Its net debt position was $868m at the end of the quarter.
