UK commercial real estate consultancy group Colliers CRE said on Thursday that it expects to post a loss of around £10 mln for the year 2009 on the back of difficult trading conditions. Most of the loss (around £8 mln) was generated in the first half of 2009, Colliers said, as activity started to pick up in the second half of the year.

UK commercial real estate consultancy group Colliers CRE said on Thursday that it expects to post a loss of around £10 mln for the year 2009 on the back of difficult trading conditions. Most of the loss (around £8 mln) was generated in the first half of 2009, Colliers said, as activity started to pick up in the second half of the year.

'The fourth quarter was our strongest in terms of revenue generation in 2009, and we are expecting this momentum to continue into 2010,' the real estate services group said.

Colliers completed an £18.4 mln share capital issue in October last year, in efforts to expand the group's equity base. 'This fundraising both strengthened our balance sheet and also brought in FirstService Real Estate Advisors (FirstService REA) as a major shareholder,' the firm added.

The group has also re-financed its bank facilities by securing an £18 mln revolving credit facility expiring in September 2012. Net debt is expected to amount to £8 mln at year-end 2009.

'After an 18 month period of restructuring the business, we now have an appropriate cost base and a stable platform from which to exploit improving market conditions in the UK,' Colliers said.