Savills reported a strong first-half performance, with underlying profits ballooning as improving transaction activity and stronger North American operations helped drive growth across the business.

The FTSE 250 property consultancy posted revenue of £1.23bn for the six months to 30 June, up 9% year-on-year, while underlying pre-tax profit increased 47% to £34.3m. Underlying earnings per share rose 53% to 17.9p and the board lifted the interim dividend by 5% to 7.8p per share.

While reported pre-tax profit fell 56% to £7m, the decline was largely attributed to one-off costs associated with Savills' acquisition of US real estate investment banking specialist Eastdil Secured, which completed on 31 July.

The London-based group's more cyclical transactional businesses delivered a 14% increase in revenue and a marked improvement in profitability, reflecting stronger activity in commercial property advisory markets.

Meanwhile, its less transactional divisions, including consultancy and property management, continued to provide resilience, with revenue rising 6% and underlying profit increasing 27%.

Investors welcomed the figures, with Savills shares rising almost 9% in early London trading.

Despite continued geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility, Savills said board expectations for the enlarged group in 2026 remain unchanged.

Simon Shaw, group CEO, said: "I am delighted with the significant improvement in Savills performance. I am also delighted to welcome our new colleagues at Eastdil Secured Savills who joined us this month.

"Looking forward, the enlarged Group's pipelines are strong, and although transaction timelines are hard to predict in the current environment, I am confident that we are well positioned to deliver value to our clients, colleagues and shareholders."

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