CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle, the world’s largest property services firms, reported impressive profits for the first quarter of 2007 this morning.

Excluding one-off costs related to its takeover of Trammell Crow, CBRE earned net profits of $65m – up 62% on the corresponding period last year. Jones Lang LaSalle today revealed global net profits of $27.2m for the first three months of the year – more than six times the figure achieved in same period in 2006.

Both firms attributed the growth to strong capital markets and leasing activity across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

CBRE’s EMEA region led by Mike Strong recorded a 36.8% increase in revenues to $225m, while JLL’s EMEA region headed up by Alistair Hughes grew revenues by 71% to $177m as its quest to capture market share from its biggest rival continued.

The revenue and net profit growth boosted CBRE’s share earnings by 59% to $0.27 a share this quarter while JLL’s earnings soared from $0.14 to $0.81.

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