Savills shares rise as adjusted profit jumps; 2026 outlook unchanged
Savills PLC on Thursday announced a jump in investment in the Asia Pacific, as adjusted pretax profit surged alongside higher revenue in the first half of 2026.
The London-based real estate services provider said pretax profit fell 56% to £7.0 million in the six months that ended June 30 from £15.8 million a year prior.
However, underlying pretax profit improved 47% to £34.3 million from £23.3 million.
Explaining the statutory result, Savills highlighted a transaction-related charge of £13.5 million, compared to a credit of £1.4 million a year prior, relating to its acquisition of Eastdil Secured Holdings LLC.
Savills in early August completed the acquisition of the real estate investment bank for an enterprise value of around £827 million.
Revenue rose 8.7% to £1.23 billion in the first half of 2026, from £1.13 billion a year ago.
Savills announced an interim dividend of 7.8 pence per share, up 5.4% from 7.4p last year.
The company said geopolitical and macroeconomic events, in particular the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East in late February, hurt market sentiment, especially the Europe, Middle East & Africa region.
Meanwhile, activity in the UK slowed amid the US-Iran war and ahead of an anticipated domestic political change, with a new prime minister taking office soon after the half-year ended.
Notably, investment in the Asia Pacific jumped 31%, with the Office sector in particular back in focus, Savills said.
The firm added: "China and Hong Kong started to exhibit growth in activity during the first half of 2026. Cross-border investment into Singapore continued, supported by strong demand for assets; and while interest rate concerns increased in Japan and Australia, market fundamentals there remain strong."
Chief Executive Officer Simon Shaw said: "The group's strong first-half performance, including the growth of our transactional pipelines, shows good potential for the second half of the year. Continued volatility at a macro level however makes the timing of conversion of our transactional pipeline difficult to predict."
He added: "We expect our less transactional businesses to be resilient and to again perform well this year, supported by the breadth and diversity of the group's Consultancy and Property Management services. While recognising current market uncertainty, including the recent change in the UK political landscape, the board's expectations for the enlarged group for 2026 are unchanged."
Savills shares rose 8.7% to 1,066.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
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