Savills Share News (SVS)

FTSE 250 property consultancy Savills got off to a positive start on Thursday after announcing that its overall underlying result for the full year will be slightly ahead of its original expectations.In the UK, investment activity has continued to be strong in the Central London market, but for the most part has remained subdued elsewhere.The Cordea Savills business is performing in line with its expectations, the group said, adding that it has made good headway during the period, having undergone the transition of some key management roles to new recruits. The UK Residential Agency business has continued to perform well since June, with a "resilient performance" from the prime London market.In a statmement the group said: "Overall, the effect of slightly lower volumes in London has been substantially offset by volume improvement in a number of the commutable areas outside the capital. Furthermore, London has continued to experience strong international demand for development stock in key locations."In the Asia Pacific region, cumulative control measures, culminating in the recent imposition of substantial stamp duty charges on overseas citizens buying Hong Kong residential property, have had a significant effect on residential sales volumes. However, many investors have turned to commercial assets instead. Our Prime Residential Agency business has slowed significantly in Hong Kong and Vietnam but we have seen recent signs of improvement in the key cities of mainland China." The Property Management business and Consultancy services have delivered good growth over the same period last year. UK Property Management has continued to benefit from contract wins and the growth seen in Asia Pacific has continued. In Continental Europe, it has grown revenues and stabilised much of the business.The company continued: "As we enter the final weeks of the year, when a significant part of the Group's annual profit is typically earned, it is clear that there are still significant economic issues facing individual countries, regions and the global economy. Despite the prevailing lack of credit, the World's Prime Residential and Commercial property markets continue to benefit from investors' global search for secure yield. "To date our prime market strength in many of the world's key cities has not only sheltered the Group from the reduction in activity in mainstream markets but has led to further business growth. We have seen a reduction in volumes in some transaction markets, but this is currently tempered by improvements elsewhere and continued growth in our strong non-transactional Consultancy and Property Management businesses."NR