Europe drags down Savills

Property consultancy Savills has reported a slump in pre-tax profits as it battles a Eurozone recession and caution in Asia.Revenue for the half year to the end of June was £353.3m, up 5% on the prior year but underlying profits before tax fell 4% to £19.7m. The group has raised its interim dividend by 5% to 3.3p per share.Savills now gets 60% of its income from consultancy and property management. That side of the firm, as well as the key "transactional" businesses (estate agencies) in the UK and Asia Pacific have done well. Continental Europe, unsurprisingly, remains problematic although Savills says it has managed to reduce losses.The group says it sees "no material change" for the outlook of the business. Asia will improve, the UK is difficult to read because of the August holiday and the Olympics, while in Europe property deals will "remain unsettled in core markets and very subdued in southern Europe." The US is described as having a "healthy pipeline of business".At 8:32 Savills' shares were up 0.2%BS