London, United Kingdom

Colliers CRE plc (AIM: COL), one of the UK’s top ten commercial real estate consultancy service groups announces its final results for the year to 31 December 2007.

Results

• Fee income up 25% to £117m (2006: £94m)
• Pre-tax profit also up 25% to £12.2m (2006: £9.7m), including an exceptional gain on the disposal of office premises of £2.8m (2006: nil).
• Diluted earnings per share declined 10.6% to 15.34p (2006: 17.16p) primarily reflecting the impact of the rights issue in November 2006.
• Recommended final dividend of 3.45p per share (2006: 3.14p), to be paid on 22 May 2008 to shareholders on the register on 25 April 2008, making a total for the year of 5.00p, representing an increase for the year of 10%.
• Strong financial position with total equity of £74m at the year end (2006: £65m) and net cash of £3m (2006: net debt £4m) and unutilised debt facilities.
• 2006 comparatives have been restated to reflect the adoption of IFRS.

Operations

• Further organic growth of core business - service coverage broadened and extended.
• Investment market downturn in the second half offset by strong performances elsewhere, particularly in the provision of professional services.
• Outstanding contribution from our majority owned Spanish subsidiary.
• Two acquisitions completed in the year for a combined consideration of £1.4m:
  • Huthwaite, a Bristol based building consultancy and architectural practice.
  • Dodson Jones which specialises in the high tech and life sciences sectors, and which enabled us to open an office in Cambridge.
• Heads of terms signed for a new £25m five year revolving credit facility.

Sir John Ritblat, Chairman, commented: “We expect an overall small negative total return to investors in the UK real estate market in 2008, comprising a further fall in the first half followed by stabilisation at lower levels with some recovery in the second half.  However, there are a number of factors which will work in our favour in terms of our professional activities.

"The UK and many continental European investment markets will fluctuate and quite probably provide substantial volatility, creating excellent buying and selling opportunities. The tightening of credit availability will lead to a requirement both for more comprehensive due diligence and valuation reviews. This could generate additional work for our professional teams which are able to offer a seamless service, with over 900 staff providing investment product sourcing, valuation, due diligence, research and consulting services. In addition, the trend amongst investors to consider alternative property asset classes continues with Colliers CRE well placed to advise clients on specialist markets such as healthcare, licensed and leisure, automotive and hotels."

David Izett, Chief Executive, added: "Our results for 2007 were satisfactory given the significant downturn in higher margin investment activity during the second half. They reflect the strength of our group in its diversity across services, sectors and geographies. Going into 2008, we face more uncertainty than in recent years but expect our professional services businesses to continue to perform strongly and an upturn in investment activity later in the year. We believe we can deliver on our medium term ambitions to the benefit of all our people and our shareholders." 

About Colliers International

Colliers International is a global affiliation of independently owned commercial real estate firms. The organization's 10,092 employees span the world in 267 offices in 57 countries. On a worldwide basis, Colliers manages 672,945,918 square feet, and has revenue of $US 1,620,958,349.

Contact Information

Kirsty Marshall
Interim Head of PR
+44 20 7344 6641

 back to top