Savills reports sharp drop in profit due to coronavirus crisis
Estate agent Savills reported a sharp drop in profit in the first half of the year due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the UK housing market.
The figures
In the six months ended 30 June, group revenue fell seven per cent to £791.4m.
Underlying group profit before tax plunged 66 per cent to £13.2m, from £38.4m last year.
Net rental income for the first six months of 2020 was £35.2m, £31.1m lower than in 2019.
Basic earnings per share were 3.9p, down from 12.8p in the first six months of 2019.
What Savills said
Savills chief executive Mark Ridley said: “Looking forward, as a consequence of Covid-19 the economic environment remains highly uncertain, chiefly in respect of expected recovery trajectories across the world and the occurrence of second wave outbreaks causing further lockdowns.
“In addition, it is unclear how significantly the longer term economic impact of Covid-19 will weigh on corporate and investor sentiment.
“That said, the wider context for real estate investment is largely positive with the expectation of low interest rates for longer and continued, or enhanced, investor demand for income reflected in increased allocations to Real Asset backed strategies.
“In recent weeks we have seen signs of recovery in residential markets and a number of commercial transaction markets around the world.
“Clearly, our performance in the second half of 2020 will be highly dependent upon the extent to which such signs become a sustained recovery for the markets in which we operate.”