Savills Regulatory News (SVS)

17 Oct 2008 09:54



17th October 2008

SAVILLS PLC

("Savills" or "the Company")

Trading Update and Interim Management Statement

Savills, the international property adviser, publishes its Interim Management Statement for the second half of the 2008 financial year.

Since we announced our half year results for the period ended 30 June 2008 on 28 August, our Transactional businesses world-wide have been operating in increasingly challenging markets. In recent weeks investor confidence has been severely impacted by the recent turmoil in financial markets, which has led to a sharp reduction in transaction volumes.

While we currently expect the full year to be weighted towards the second half, in light of weaker economic conditions we expect underlying profit before tax to be below the current range of analyst forecasts. 

Although not immune to the issues outlined above, our Consultancy and Property Management businesses remain robust and have continued to experience good demand for their services. Fund Management continues to benefit from its high quality contracted revenue streams, but, given the current economic climate, fund raising has been modest and transaction fees lower than planned.

A return to higher levels of transactional activity will depend on how quickly confidence returns to financial markets. The steps we are continuing to take to reduce costs, our strong balance sheet, with committed facilities until 2011, and our successful strategy of reducing dependence on transactional income will continue to serve us well in these markets.

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