REAL ESTATE - Jones Lang Lasalle last week reported operating income of $37.3m for Q3 2006 – a 40% increase over the same period of 2005. The firm also posted Q3 revenues of $462m, a 42% increase over Q3 2005.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) reported significant increases for the real estate investment management firm. Revenues for the region increased 53% over the same period the previous year, compared with 46% for the Americas.
EMEA CEO Alastair Hughes expects the strong performance of Germany and France to continue over the next quarter as a result of the combination of favourable market conditions and the firm’s strong pipeline.
The firm remains optimistic about its limited investment in emerging European markets, including Russia. "As the Russian investment market gradually becomes more mature and transparent, it is likely to become attractive to a wider range of buyers," said Hughes.
In contrast to the US, where Lasalle’s growth has been largely driven by corporate acquisitions, in Europe "virtually all the growth in EMEA is organic," said Hughes. "Our acquisitions have been relatively modest in scale."
Globally, the firm has invested $180m to date this year in acquisitions. Next year will likely see new market expansions following the opening of seven new offices in 2006.
Lasalle’s assets under management increased to $40bn in Q3, compared to $29bn in the same period last year.
