Savills posts record performance for 2016

International real estate advisor Savills announced “record results” for the year to 31 December on Wednesday, with group revenue up 13% to £1.45bn, or £1.36bn in constant currency.

The FTSE 250 firm said underlying profit was up 12% to £135.8m, or £126.8m in constant currency, while group profit before tax improved 1%.

Its underlying profit margin remained stable at 9.4%, compared to 9.5% in 2015.

Underlying basic earnings per share were up 15% to 72.5p.

The board confirmed that total dividends for the year were up 12% to 29.0p per share.

It said the total ordinary dividend was up 21% to 14.5p, and the supplementary dividend up 3.6% to 14.5p.

“Overall, Savills delivered another record performance in 2016 despite the geopolitical distractions in some of our markets,” said group chief executive Jeremy Helsby.

“We benefited from the scale of our operations across the globe, which have grown substantially over recent years, as well as a highly resilient performance in the UK.”

Helsby said the company’s “less transactional” businesses, particularly property management and investment management, grew strongly while its global transaction advisory business produced a solid performance despite variable conditions in many markets.

“We entered 2017 with a continuation of global macro-economic concerns, rising bond yields, uncertainty over the impact of Brexit negotiations in the UK and Continental Europe and a new administration in the US.

“Savills is a strong and diverse global firm and we continue to look at opportunities to develop our business. We have started the year well and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.”