Insider Media Limited

Property giant Savills has announced an increase in revenue of 23 per cent to £304.4m. The company continued its strong half-year results, with group profit before tax rising to £14.4m from just £0.1m in the comparable 2009 period.

The property service – which has offices in Nottingham and Lincoln – said that net cash for the period to 30 June 2010 was £20.1m, a significant improvement on its 2009 net debt of £0.4m.

Underlying pre-tax profit for the group grew to £17.2m, again increasing its 2009 result of £2.5m.

Commenting on the results, Jeremy Helsby, group chief executive of Savills, said the group's strong perfrormance was particularly due to the the recovery of transaction markets in the UK and Asia Pacific. Helsby said these markets were “core to the group's success”.

He added: “At the same time we have substantially reduced losses in the continental European business and are seeing some improvement in the US market.

“Looking to the second half, factors such as the Chinese government's desire to contain overheating in the residential market, continued concerns over economic growth in many countries and prolonged low levels of debt availability indicate that the recovery is likely to flatten off during the coming months.

“Since Q4 2009 we have consistently maintained a cautious outlook for the second half of 2010, and with such uncertainties remaining we currently have no reason to change that view.”