Knight Frank delivers “strong performances” in “very challenging markets”
Knight Frank this week reported 8% growth in group turnover for the year to 31 March 2012, to £333.9m, and a fall in pre-tax profit to £95.9m from £101.9m the previous year. The company said its international links had boosted its results and said it planned further overseas expansion this year, in Scandinavia, Germany and additional Asia Pacific locations.
The company noted that UK commercial property markets remained very polarised on the grounds of geography and quality. While there is a “broad-based market” for commercial property in London, regional demand remains patchy and biased towards the best-quality opportunities, it said.
“While debt availability is low, there is considerable equity investment in the market, which is reinforcing the bias towards London and prime assets,” Knight Frank added. “Weaker sterling continues to draw in foreign buyers – nearly 70% of central London commercial property sold in the last 12 months was to foreign buyers,” it noted.
The retail property market is particularly challenging, Knight Frank said, “as the UK economy rebalances away from consumerism and towards exporting,” but the firm noted improved demand for industrial property, particularly from the auto sector.
