EMEA lifts C&W's global turnover by 21%

Global property agent Cushman & Wakefield saw turnover rise 21% to $1.8 bn (EUR 1.2 bn) in 2007 on the back of a strong performance by the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) operations, provisional figures released today show. Turnover at the firm's EMEA operations rose by 33% to GBP 282 mln(EUR 377 mln).
The strong growth of the EMEA operations was realised almost entirely in the first half of the year with the Continental activities accounting for the bulk of the increase or GBP 181 mln. The UK accounted for GBP 102 mln, a rise of 13% year-on-year.
The strongest performers in EMEA were Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Romania. 'The Continental activities were more profitable in 2007 than the UK,' said Paul Bacon, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield's EMEA operations. 'This shows we have been betting on the right horse. The emerging markets in the CEE have really come of age. The UK operations booked the best performance in the first half of the year, but in the second half they were struggling to get past the post.'
Investment volume slumped to GBP 5 bn in the fourth quarter from an average of GBP 15 bn in the first nine months of the year. Bacon plans to further expand the Continental operations, in particular in Turkey, after opening new offices in Lyon, Helsinki and Kiev in 2007. The company also acquired a 35-strong consulting team in Romania last year and now aims to branch out further in the UK after opening an office in Birmingham. Over the full year, the number of EMEA staff rose by more than 20% to 2,100.
This pace of growth will slow over the next 12 months, Bacon said. Nevertheless, he sees the company doubling again in size over the next five years in terms of staff and profitability. To this end, he is not ruling out further growth through acquisitions but says the company is pursuing a strategy of 'prudent expansion'. 'We will only buy a company if there is a cultural fit and it is complementary to our existing business. One and one have to equal three.'
Target countries aside from the UK are Germany and France, Bacon said. He added that Cushman & Wakefield was in a good position to make an acquisition now that the ground is shifting and pointed out that the company is debt-free. 'If you look at the value equation, any deal made in the last two years was extraordinarily expensive.'
For the coming year, Bacon sees a 'lower level of activity' back to pre-2005 levels. 'The exceptional growth we saw in 2006 and 2007 are unlikely to be repeated. We will see a recovery cycle for the next 12 to 18 months.'