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Savills plc, the international real estate advisor, today announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.
Key Financial Information
- Group revenue £932.6m, up £141.2m (18% as reported and 21% in constant currency*) (H1 2020: £791.4m)
- Group underlying profit** before tax £66.1m, up £52.9m (H1 2020: £13.2m)
- Group profit before tax £63.8m, up £56.1m (H1 2020: £7.7m)
- Underlying basic earnings per share 35.8p (H1 2020: 7.0p)
- Basic earnings per share 34.6p (H1 2020: 3.9p)
- Interim dividend of 6.0p (H1 2020: 0.0p)
- Net cash £106.7m*** (H1 2020: Net cash £9.4m)
* Revenue and underlying profit for the period are translated at the prior period exchange rates to provide a constant currency comparative (see Note 9).
** Underlying profit before tax (‘underlying profit’) is calculated on a consistently reported basis in accordance with Note 3 and Note 8 to the Interim Financial Statements.
*** Net cash reflects cash and cash equivalents net of borrowings and overdrafts in the notional pooling arrangement (see Note 14).
Trading performance - Key highlights
- Transactional Advisory revenues up 30% in recovering markets.
- Less transactional businesses, in aggregate 61% of Group revenue, continue to perform well with revenue up 11%.
- Property and Facilities Management revenue up 6%, Consultancy revenue up 20%.
- Commercial Transaction revenue increased 15% overall with strong growth in the UK and Asia Pacific.
- Record UK Residential Transaction Advisory performance with revenue up 97%, a continuation of the exceptional recovery experienced from H2 2020.
- Savills Investment Management revenue up 25%. Base management fees up 20%, with period end Assets under Management (‘AUM’) up 16% at €23.7bn.
Commenting on the results, Mark Ridley, Group Chief Executive of Savills plc, said:
“I am delighted that our strategy of maintaining full operating strength and high levels of client service through the pandemic has proven successful through the progressive recovery of many markets in which we operate. We have a strong balance sheet and are focused on continuing to develop our global businesses through the recovery period, maintaining a first class service to our clients and safeguarding our staff.
"Our Transactional businesses have benefited from improving sentiment in most markets, although travel restrictions still represent an obstacle to cross-border capital deployment. In particular, our Residential Transaction business delivered an exceptionally strong performance in the first half albeit we expect activity to return to more normal levels, particularly in the UK, during the second half of the year compared with a strong comparative period in H2 2020.
“Our Consultancy business has performed well and our Less Transactional service lines as a whole provide a strong platform for the Group, in which we continue to invest.
“In summary, the combination of strong trading in the less transactional service lines, improving transactional markets (including the completion of previously delayed transactions) alongside continued cost management, has resulted in a record first half performance for the Group. Looking ahead, we expect some discretionary cost to start to normalise and certain of our markets to moderate in the second half of the year and, while pandemic risks continue including the current lock downs in a number of Asian markets, we are confident in the Group's ability both to benefit from progressive recovery in transactional markets and to continue to execute our growth strategies. Assuming no new material disruption the Board expects the performance for the year as a whole to be meaningfully ahead of its previous expectations.”