Cushman & Wakefield posted a loss of $18.7m (£11.7m) in the first quarter of 2012, nearly double that reported last year, after a 7% hike in operating costs.
The global property services firm, which is 70% owned by the Italian Agnelli family’s vehicle Exor, reported the first-quarter loss under US GAAP standards compared with last year’s $9.6m loss.
Listed Italian company Exor said the $13m rise in its operating expenses to $202.5m “was primarily driven by an increase in employment expenses, due to higher headcount and salary increases and other operations-related costs in support of Cushman’s strategic growth initiatives”.
Revenues increased $22.9m, or 6%, to $402.8m, despite commission and service fee revenues decreasing slightly by $0.5m to $296.7m.
At the operating income level, Cushman made an operating loss of $24.3m, which was nearly three times last year’s figure of $8.7m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation declined $17.2m to -$13.5m.
Earlier this month rivals CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle both announced an increase in net profit from what is traditionally the slower first quarter of the year.
