Savills' annual figures show revenues are up 19 per cent to £1.1 billion and its pre-tax profits are up 21 per cent to £85m - but its real target is global expansion.
The high-end estate agency part of the business saw more modest growth; UK residential profits grew four per cent to £19.7m.
The biggest news was contained in the small print - its acquisition of German investment management company SEB Asset Management for £15.6m.
Ken Odeluga, a senior market analyst at www.cityindex.co.uk, says this unexpected acquisition shows that Savills wants to extend its reach in financial services further.
Earlier this year Savills launched POP Marketing, a Manchester based marketing division providing event management, PR, digital marketing and social media services to clients - another sign of the firm diversifying.
Comments
Savills might be high-end, but by all accounts their customer service is excellent and they treat their staff pretty well. You might not agree with them, but you can't deny the impact that they've had.
I'm not a big fan of high-end agencies who only operate in prime locations - it smacks of elitism, to be honest - but you can't deny the power of Savills and it's no surprise to see them expanding at a rapid rate.
@GuestP
Yeah, achieving quality results in Prime Central London, where the super-rich hang out. I think you or I could sell 4m houses to rich Russian or Chinese investors. I don't think they have to work particularly hard, do you
Good for them. A quality company working hard and achieving results, can't be bad.
Notonthehighstreet- I assume you wish this article was about Purblebricks or Emoov then
[quote]revenues are up 19 per cent to 1.1 billion and its pre-tax profits are up 21 per cent to 85m [/quote]
Recession What recession Then again, recessions don't tend to affect the mega-rich, do they
Savills taking over the world Oh joy, that's all we need.