CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm, registered an increase in annual profits of 19% in 2012, representatives revealed in a report released this morning.
The surge represents a total profit of $399m last year, garnered from a record yearly revenue stream of $6.5bn. The returns represent a 10% increase on the $5.9bn of revenue recorded in 2011, driven by a consistent rate of top-line growth in Q4 2012.
Robert Sulentic, president and chief executive officer of CBRE, said: “We are very pleased with our strong finish to 2012… This growth was paced by the Americas, which benefited from particularly strong performance in our capital markets businesses.”
Having monitored the performance of the US financial market keenly in recent times, Sulentic believes he was able to foresee growth rates steadying as the company entered 2012. He said: “We are encouraged by positive underlying trends in the U.S. economy – and thus expect the Americas to remain the biggest near-term catalyst for our growth”.
Should the world’s economy continue on trend, Sulentic expects CBRE to continue producing solid revenue returns at increasing increments throughout 2013; forecasting a closing share price of between $1.40 and $1.45, compared to $1.22 in 2012.
CBRE’s property sales and commercial mortgage brokerage were the main forces behind the jump in revenue witnessed in Q4 2012. The revenue generated from global property sales rose 22% in Q4 through the company’s single-asset and portfolio sales – valued at over $1bn – across the property markets of Berlin, Frankfurt, Moscow, New York, Seattle and Silicon Valley.
In the Americas, sales activity rose 32% during Q4, whilst the continued economic turbulence faced by European markets failed to prevent property sales in EMEA rising by 13%, buoyed by a robust performance from the UK market. Another major contributor to growth was the increase in outsourcing, drawing an increase in revenue of 13%.
In addition, 61 long-term contracts were completed by Global Corporate Services during Q4 2012, with CBRE continuing to increase the number of services on offer to existing clients. Of these contracts, a record 21 were expansions on existing agreements.
