Savills has posted a 9% drop in pretax profit to £18.2m following a slowdown in US and Far East transactions in the first half.
The fall came on the back of a 5% increase in group revenue to £353.3m in the six months to the end of June.
Underlying group profit before tax was down 4%.
The property services firm posted the revenue growth as its property and facilities management revenue increased by 12% and consultancy by 15%, offsetting a 4% decline in transactions.
By businesses line, transaction advisory posted the largest fall in profit, declining 37%, against an 81% increase from consultancy.
By geography, revenue in the UK was up 7% to £170.9m, followed by Asia, which delivered £148.2m, and continental Europe, which saw a rise of 8% to £31.6m. America posted a 26% fall.
The UK delivered the most profit, at £16.3m – broadly in line with the same time last year – while profit in Asia Pacific dropped by 14% to £10.6m.
Both America and continental Europe posted losses, although group chief executive Jeremy Helsby pointed out the firm cut its losses on the Continent by 26%, from £4.7m at this time last year to £3.5m.
In the UK, transaction advisory business residential fee income fell by 5% to £45.7m because of “a cooling of activity in secondary London sales”, while commercial transaction fee income grew by 7% to £21m, reflecting the strong London market.
Helsby said the firm delivered “a better first half performance than anticipated”, and that the firm “sees no material change in the overall outlook” for the business in the second half.
He added: “In the UK, the combination of the seasonal summer quiet period and the London Olympics means that it is still too early to predict the trading environment from September onwards.
“In continental Europe, we expect transaction markets to remain unsettled in core markets and very subdued in Southern Europe. In the US, we have a healthy pipeline of business.”
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
