Record profits at Savills

Nowhere was this made clearer than in the commercial property sector. Strong overseas interest not only boosted volume in London, but also helped to prod UK investors into taking a closer look at regional markets, where yields remain that much more attractive, and transaction revenue in the UK jumped by 22 per cent to £73.4m. In London, Savills was involved in nearly a third of office transactions and over 40 per cent of all deals involving Middle Eastern or Asian investors. The strong performance is expected to continue, although chief executive Jeremy Helsby pointed out that the availability of regional commercial stock has become constrained by existing owners sitting tight, and also by a dearth of new development during the recession.

On the residential side, the value of UK residential property (excluding new developments) sold by Savills rose by 15 per cent to £6.1bn. However, talk of a bubble is misguided, Mr Helsby added, pointing out that Savills' sales volume in central London is still 15 per cent below the 2007 peak, while outside London transaction volumes remain 26 per cent below their peak.

Savills also benefited from a stronger than expected contribution from overseas, notably in Australia, South Korea and Japan. Turnover in the Asia Pacific region grew by over 4 per cent to £122m despite an expected downturn in Hong Kong activity following a hike in taxes on commercial investments. "Investors with money are still there," observed Mr Helsby, "it's just that now they've gone elsewhere to invest."

Analysts at Numis Securities have upgraded their 2014 forecasts by 4 per cent to adjusted pre-tax profits of £80m and EPS of 45.6p (from £75.2m and 43.1p in 2013).