DTZ narrows losses to £6m
REAL estate consultant DTZ said yesterday its first half loss narrowed on a strong performance in Asia, as it retained a cautious outlook due to market uncertainty in the UK and Europe.
The company yesterday posted a pre-tax loss of £6m for the six months to 31 October, compared to a loss of £20.6m in the same period last year.
DTZ, which competes with property services firms such as Jones Lang LaSalle and CB Richard Ellis, said it was trading in line with market expectations for the full-year after it issued a profit warning in October.
The company said its pipeline for new business was healthy but economic uncertainty in Britain and Ireland, its largest market, and across continental Europe, was hurting revenues.
“DTZ is a bit of a work in progress,” said chief executive Paul Idzik, who joined the firm in 2008 after he left his role as chief operating officer at Barclays. “We have got through our restructuring and now feel very confident, with results across all but one of our markets growing.”
The firm secured £10m of mezzanine debt from majority shareholder Saint George Participations in October, alongside an extended £15m revolving credit facility from RBS.