Return to the office boosts CBRE’s leasing revenue

CBRE said companies’ “progress” on bringing workers back into the office had helped boost leasing revenue over the start of the year. Leasing revenue grew by 4% year-on-year in the three months to 31 March, with a 9% lift in Asia-Pacific and 4% increases in the Americas and EMEA. Office leasing posted a double-digit rise globally. Elsewhere in the agency’s advisory segment, the firm said EMEA had “bucked the downward global trend” in capital markets, with sales revenue up 8%, driven by the UK and Spain. In the Global Workplace Solutions unit, facilities management revenue increased by 11%, while project management net revenue rose by 7%. At group level, revenue of $7.9bn was 7.1% ahead of the first quarter of 2023. Core EBITDA dropped by a fifth to $424m. Chair and chief executive Bob Sulentic said earnings had “exceeded our expectations heading into the year”. “Leasing outperformed expectations, driven by office leasing growth globally that reflects a resilient economy and companies making progress on bringing their employees back to the office,” Sulentic said. “At the same time, persistent inflation kept interest rates higher than expected, which led to underperformance in our property sales transaction activity. Our Global Workplace Solutions segment again delivered double-digit net revenue growth, even as margins fell short of expectations. We have initiated actions to bring our costs in this segment quickly back into line with revenue trajectory.”