Savills sounded a warning for agents this morning, with the credit crunch already reducing the amount of investment transactions taking place.
Tightening credit markets are affecting transactional volumes in the commercial investment markets, primarily in the UK,’ Peter Smith, Savills chairman, said.
However, the company said it was confident that the prime residential market would remain robust, and that the company’s end of year results would be in line with expectations.
Smith was speaking as the company revealed strong interim results for the period to 30 June.
The group’s revenue increased 35% to £284.2m compared to the same period last year, and pre-tax profits jumped 7% to £33.2m.
Fund management arm Cordea Savills was the group’s star performer, with revenue increasing 170% to £7.3m, and assets under management growing 56% to £2.8bn.
However, the group’s costs grew by 39%, and its margin slipped from 14.7% to 11.7%.
The City reacted negatively to the results, with shares dropping 4.35% to 440p on opening, against a backdrop of poor global performance amongst property service firms.
Shares in US giants CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle dropped 6% and 5% yesterday amidst fears of a US recession.
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