Savills released its final financial results for 2018 to the end of December, with shares falling in Thursday morning trading.
The property company’s group revenue rose 10% to £1.76bn.
However, statutory pre-tax profit for the period fell by 3% to £109.4m.
Meanwhile, underlying earnings per share increased by 3% to 77.8p compared to 75.8p in 2017.
Savills said it achieved strong growth in North America, with sales up 18% and underlying profit up 64%.
Meanwhile, Europe and the Middle East also delivered growth throughout the period.
Commenting on the results, Group Chief Executive Officer Mark Ridley said:
“Savilles delivered both revenue and underlying profit growth in 2018, driven by a strong second half performance.In addition to maintaining or increasing our share of the trading market, Business performance was key to this achievement.
He also warned about the year ahead, highlighting political and economic uncertainty as the company’s key concerns going forward. He continued:
“2019 has gotten off to a good start, but the year ahead will be overshadowed by macroeconomic and political uncertainty around the world. It is difficult to accurately predict the impact on investor demand.”
Real estate companies like Savills in particular are suffering from the downturn in the property market in the South East, particularly in the capital region.
House prices in London fell 1.2% month-on-month in November as economic uncertainty continued to deter buyers, official figures showed.
As a result, Mr Ridley warned that sales could fall for the rest of the year. He added:
“At this stage, we expect volumes to decline in many markets and growth in our lower volume business areas. We therefore maintain our expectations for the Group’s performance in 2019. ”
The Savills (LON:SVS) share price is -3.79% at 11:31 AM GMT.
