CBRE Group reports 138% increase in profit
CBRE Group Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate brokerage, turned a $94-million profit in the third quarter of this year led by growth in lease activity in the United States and the overall real estate recovery in Europe.
The Los Angeles firm said Tuesday that income from arranging transactions to buy or rent space in offices, warehouses and other commercial properties helped revenue increase 11% from the third quarter last year to $1.73 billion.
Revenue from brokering property sales was up 29% over the same period. The top countries where the growth occurred were Germany, Japan, Britain and the United States.
Leasing revenue growth accelerated to 11%, the strongest performance in that business line since the third quarter of 2011, the company said.
“Our performance was also bolstered by higher contributions from our investment management business,” Chief Executive Bob Sulentic said.
Third-quarter net income was $94.4 million, or 28 cents a share, up 138% from $39.7 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier.
Excluding certain charges, profit would have been 30 cents a share, 3 cents less than analysts’ estimates but an improvement from 26 cents in the same quarter last year.
CBRE shares closed up 99 cents to $24.40 before its earnings were announced.
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