Sales and profit increased at estate agent Savills in the first half of 2024 as both commercial and residential markets begin to show signs of recovery.
The FTSE 250-listed firm has reported a five per cent rise in its revenue, from £1.011bn to £1.063bn, in the six months ended June 30.
Its underlying pre-tax profit rose by 30 per cent to reach £21.2m while underlying earnings per share rose by 32 per cent to 12.1p. Savills’ pre-tax profit increased from £6m to £8.9m on a reported basis.
‘Activity is recovering in certain markets’ – Savills boss
Chief executive Mark Ridley said:”Our improved performance in the first half reflects the positive effects of early recovery phases in a number of our markets, as well as the robust and growing earnings provided by our less transactional businesses.
“Whilst we have seen resilience in prime commercial leasing markets, global capital transaction volumes remain subdued, although activity is recovering in certain markets.”
Subdued markets included Germany, France and China, which had “very low transaction volumes as real estate markets progressively adjusted to challenging conditions”, the group added.
Revenue from residential transactions in the UK rose by seven per cent to reach £76.8m, up from £71.6m in the same period in 2023.
Underlying profits in Savills’ UK residential transaction business improved by 11 per cent to £5.2m.
The UK residential housing market has begun to show signs of recovery this summer. In July, house prices surges to their highest point since January after the Bank of England cut rates from 5.25 per cent to five per cent.
Commercial capital transactions in UK continued to indicate a trend to office downsizing and were “largely focused on lot sizes below £100m”, Savills said.
Around £20bn worth of commercial property investments were traded in the first six months of 2024, eight per cent lower than the same period in 2023.
However, this was six per cent higher than the second half of last year, “supporting the sentiment that the market is beginning to recover”, Savills said.
The group said that its expectations for the full year remained unchanged.