AGM Statement

RNS Number : 0362N

Savills PLC

13 May 2015

 



13 May 2015

SAVILLS PLC

("Savills" or "the Company")

AGM Statement

Savills plc, the international real estate advisor, is today holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 12 noon, 33 Margaret Street, London, W1G 0JD, and provides the following AGM statement.

During the year to date Savills has traded slightly ahead of our expectations and substantially ahead of the corresponding period in 2014.

In the UK commercial markets, Savills has continued to maintain a significant share of the Prime Central London investment and leasing markets, and volumes have increased over Q1 2014. The improved performance of markets outside London has continued from last year and rental growth has emerged across most sectors of the market.

The UK Prime Residential market has performed in line with our expectations of reduced volumes in advance of last week's election. The election result was positive for Residential market sentiment although it is too soon to gauge how volumes may recover in the second half of the year.

In Asia Pacific, Hong Kong and China have started the year more strongly than in 2014, although trading volumes are still well below 2013 levels. During the period we expanded our South East Asian operations with the acquisition of a 45% share in a  commercial real estate services business in Malaysia, comprising 300 staff and three principal offices. This marks Savills first entry into this important market in the region.

In the US, we have  benefited from  the acquisition of Studley (acquired 30^th May 2014) which has delivered underlying revenue growth year-on-year. We have commenced the expansion of the Savills Studley platform with the recent acquisition of  the Cooper Brady Partnership in Silicon Valley, boosting our presence in this key market. In addition we have acquired  a small consultancy practice in New York and a corporate occupier advisory business in Florida. We continue to see significant growth opportunities for Savills Studley in the US.

In Continental Europe, to date we have traded slightly ahead of our expectations, with Spain and Germany experiencing a particularly strong start to the year .

Globally, our Consultancy and Property Management businesses have delivered continued revenue growth with particular strengths in the UK and Asia.  In April, we announced the proposed acquisition of Smiths Gore, a long established UK rural estate management firm, which is expected significantly to enhance our property management operation in that sector.

Following a strong year in 2014, Cordea Savills has grown revenue and profits in line with our expectations for the period to date. In March, we announced the proposed acquisition of SEB Asset Management AG  which will materially increase the size of our investment management business. Completion is subject to a number of approvals and commercial conditions, and is now anticipated to occur at or around the end of June  

While we have started the year well, typically the first four months represent a disproportionately small element of the expected outturn for the full year. We have continued to develop the business with selective acquisitions and recruitments in a number of our service lines and are focused on integrating these through the remainder of the year.

Against a backdrop which remains broadly supportive of global property markets, we anticipate that our performance will continue to be in line with our expectations.

For further information, contact:

Savills                                                                                                  020 7409 8934

Jeremy Helsby, Group Chief Executive

Simon Shaw, Group Chief Financial Officer

Tulchan Communications                                                                   020 7353 4200

Peter Hewer

 

END

 

 

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