Savills back in profit

International estate agency and property group Savills has returned to profit on the back of a property market recovery in London and the ongoing Asian property boom.

Savills reported £14.4m profit before tax for the first half of 2010, compared to a flat performance over the same period last year.

Group revenues grew strongly to £304.4m in that time.

Like many property-related businesses, Savills was hit hard by the global downturn in housing markets, but as property has stabilised the group has staged its own recovery.

In the six months to the end of June 2010, Savills’ transaction advisory revenues grew by 57%, consultancy gains increased by 12% and property and facilities management increased by 8% compared with the first half of 2009.

Jeremy Helsby, chief executive of Savills, said:

“We have had a strong first half particularly through the recovery of transaction markets in the UK and asia-pacific, which are core to the group’s success. At the same time we have substantially reduced losses in the Continental European business and are seeing some improvement in the US market.”

However, Savills is maintaining a cautious outlook for the second half of the year in light of concerns regarding a slowdown in the UK property market, and worries about Chinese government policy potentially subduing its residential property sector.

Helsby said: “Looking to the second half, factors such as the Chinese government’s desire to contain overheating in the residential market, continued concerns over economic growth in many countries and prolonged low levels of debt availability indicate that the recovery is likely to flatten off during the coming months.”

Even so, Helsby said that Savills will seek to make new acquisitions going forward, particularly in Asia.