Savills financial services arm posts loss

The division, which comprises mortgage broker Savills Private Finance and corporate finance business Savills Capital Advisors, posted a pre-tax loss of £2.1m for the period until the end of June. It made an operating profit of £400,000 in the first half of 2008. In H1 fee income dropped 48% to £5.4m. Savills attributes the drop to the extreme contraction of UK lending markets compared with the first half of 2008. While the entry of a small number of new overseas lenders in recent weeks has improved sentiment, it warns that it has not replaced the level of overseas lending which exi...