DTZ says trading is in line with expectations
Commercial property agent DTZ yesterday told shareholders it was trading “in line with expectations”, two months after reporting an annual pre-tax loss of £35.1m.
Chairman Tim Melville-Ross yesterday said that the group’s £50m cost cutting programme had accelerating and “savings were well advanced”.
Melville-Ross said: “The global economic crisis and resulting unrelenting pressure on global real estate markets inevitably impacted the group significantly.”
Including writedowns on its 50 per cent stake sale in DTZ Rockwood in the US, the group reported a loss of £79.7m. The property slump and 18 per cent drop in revenues forced the group to axe the 6.5p a share dividend it paid last year.
Since the property market collapsed DTZ has embarked on a radical rescue plan, including appointing former Barclays chief operating officer Paul Idzik as chief executive.
Under Idzik the group has slashed costs, cutting its workforce by 1,504 to 5,575.
In January, DTZ raised £48.7m from shareholders, backed by its largest shareholder SGP, to shore up its battered balance sheet.