What's new
â– Commercial deals boost profits
â– UK residential market faces election challenge
â– Diverse revenue streams support underlying growth
The fortunes of UK estate agents bear a strong correlation to the health of the housing sector, but Savills (SVS) has a more diverse revenue stream than most. It boasts thriving commercial property divisions in the US, Europe, China and Hong Kong as well as the upmarket housing business that underpins the UK brand. With such a broad area of coverage, it's inevitable that there will be significant variance in regional performances. But the underlying performance for 2014 was impressive: in a trading update Savills revealed that profits for last year are expected to be well ahead of earlier expectations. The shares duly jumped about 8 per cent.