Full year results at luxury estate agents Savills (LON:SVS) were unaffected by Brexit uncertainty, with group revenue rising 13 percent over the course of 2016.
Its UK residential business saw a 3 percent fall to to £124 million due to a decrease in trading volumes in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. However, profits remained unaffected, with underlying profit up 12 percent to £135.8 million.
Group profit before tax rose 1 percent to £99.8 million, and profits across continental Europe rose 52 percent. Savills attributed this to improved Investment Management performance and the benefit of business development activity in recent years.
Jeremy Helsby, Group Chief Executive, said the group had delivered a “record” performance, “despite the geopolitical distractions in some of our markets.”
“We entered 2017 with a continuation of global macro-economic concerns, rising bond yields, uncertainty over the impact of Brexit negotiations in the UK and Continental Europe and a new administration in the US.
“Savills is a strong and diverse global firm and we continue to look at opportunities to develop our business. We have started the year well and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.”
The estate agents added that it plans to boost dividends for the full year of 2016 by 12 percent, to 29 pence per share. Shares in the company are currently trading down 2.08 percent at 866.06 (0940GMT).