Last week, Savills released its preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Overall, group performance ahead of expectations despite challenging markets.
Financially, highlights included group revenue up seven per cent to £2.3 billion, from £2.15bn in 2021. However, reported profit before tax decreased 16 per cent to £153.9 million.
Operationally, highlights included transactional advisory revenues up four per cent, despite challenging market conditions, though residential transaction revenue down two per cent.
The firms investment management revenue up one per cent, with assets under management up marginally from £21.9bn to £22.1bn.
The full results can be seen here.
Commenting on the results, Mark Ridley, group chief executive, said: “Performance in 2022 was slightly ahead of our expectations despite challenging markets. More importantly, perhaps, the Group’s performance was substantially ahead of the 2019 ‘pre-COVID’ 1comparative period. The strength of our less transactional businesses, primarily Consultancy and Property Management, helped underpin the Group’s performance overall.
“In the year ahead, challenging macro conditions are expected to continue with inflation and interest rates remaining in focus for some time. As a result, the speed at which individual investment markets adjust to the cost of debt is uncertain, although certain markets, such as the UK, are recalibrating faster than in the past, and will be helped by the lack of development supply and an overall trend to sustainability. We would also expect that the release of COVID restrictions in Greater China paves the way for progressive improvement in real estate markets in the region.
“We have started 2023 broadly in line with our expectations. However, it is clear that, at this stage, predictions for the full year are characterised by a wide range of possible outcomes; we believe that H1 2023 will be more challenging than its 2022 comparative; however, we expect progressive improvement through the second half of the year. 2024 should see more positive conditions for real estate market activity and Savills is both retaining its bench strength and investing in advance of such recovery.”
Tom Fraser, head of office for Savills in Cambridge, said: “The Cambridge office has continued to reinforce its position over the last 12 months. We have recruited staff across a number of divisions and teams in development services, planning, rural and commercial have received several significant instructions.
“Our residential and new homes departments meanwhile continue to see high levels of activity across the city and wider county. Businesses remain attracted to Cambridge and the acceleration of the life sciences sector in particular bodes well for future success. We look forward to growing the business and augmenting our progress further over the coming months.”
Tom Orford, head of office for Savills Ipswich, said: “The last 12 months have been extremely busy. Our teams in residential, new homes, rural and commercial have completed on some significant deals and I am very grateful for everyone’s loyalty, hard work and dedication, which has been the cornerstone of our success.
“We have also made several new appointments across the office – recruiting an apprentice for our residential division and adding staff in key areas of the business including the new homes and rural departments. We look forward to continuing to support our clients and grow our business further as we move into spring.”
Mark Little, head of office at Savills Norwich, said: “In spite of challenging market conditions the Norwich office has had a strong 12 months and I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to achieve such positive results – not just for our business but also for our clients.
“The residential and new homes teams continue to see robust levels of activity, while colleagues in our rural and development divisions have completed some noteworthy deals. We have several new launches in the pipeline for 2023 and look forward to continuing this success and further strengthening our position as the year progresses.”
Alex Leigh, head of office for Savills Chelmsford, said: “The Chelmsford office has continued to grow and strengthen its position over the last year and the performance of all teams has been strong. This activity has been underpinned by significant transactions across all divisions including residential, new homes, commercial, rural, minerals, development and planning.
“A particular highlight has been Brizes Park – a 74 acre parkland residential development including a converted Grade II listed school building that has been the culmination of a number of our teams working in close collaboration. We have several other exciting projects set to launch over the coming months and we head into spring on a strong footing.”
Image from top left, clockwise shows Tom Fraser, Tom Orford, Alex Leigh, Mark Little
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