- Revenue and dividend up
- Pre-tax profit falls
Simon Shaw, the chief financial officer of Savills (SVS), says that contrasting the running costs of the property agency in 2021 with 2022 is an “invidious comparison”.
It’s easy to understand why. Covid-19 restrictions throughout 2021 meant the company’s workforce of surveyors, agents, dealmakers, planners and property advisers of all kinds travelled less, met fewer clients face-to-face, and generally chalked up fewer expenses. The return of all of these things, in addition to wage inflation, made Savills’ business more expensive to run in 2022. Consequently, the business posted a drop in pre-tax profit even as revenue ticked up.