Profits soar at Savills as commercial property sector rebounds

Directors at estate agent Savills are continuing to reap the benefits of a recovering commercial property sector.

Recently filed accounts show 16 directors at the company saw pay soar, with aggregate remuneration totalling €8.2 million in 2014, equivalent to an average of €329,600 each, including pension payments. This comes after directors’ pay rose 102 per cent to €4.87 million from €2.4 million in the 12 months ending December 2013.

Accounts recently filed at the Companies Registration Office show pretax profits almost doubled at Savills Commercial (Ireland) Limited in 2014, jumping from €2.7 million to €5.6 million.

Revenues at the division rose nearly 50 per cent during the year, climbing from €20.3 million in 2013 to €30.4 million as administrative expenses rose to €24.8 million compared to €17.6 million in the previous year.

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Overall, directors’ remuneration for fiscal 2014 consisted of €6.8 million in emoluments and a further €1.39 million in pension contributions.

“The company performed very well in the improving property market. The benefits of the restructuring programme over the previous three years, which saw the company diversify across all property sectors, has had a positive impact on the underlying profits,” the directors said in a note.

Staff-related costs

The firm, which employed 212 in 2014 as against 200 a year earlier, saw staff-related costs rise sharply, increasingly from €12.8 million to €20.7 million.

Accounts filed earlier this year for Savills Residential (Ireland) Limited show the company returned to the black in 2014, recording a €119,066 pretax profit versus a €99,207 loss in 2013 on turnover that rose to €2.09 million from €1.45 million a year earlier.

Savills Ireland parent company, Savills Plc, which employs over 30,000 worldwide, announced group revenues of £622.7 million (€743m) for the first half of 2016, up 14 per cent versus the same period a year earlier. However, profits at the group’s British commercial property business more than halved due to the Brexit referendum.