Commercial Property News

DTZ Holdings Plc, today reported its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 November 2009 to date, saying there has been a general improvement in transactional markets across Asia Pacific, and in the key European Central Business Districts (CBDs), most notably London and Paris.

Overall DTZ remain cautious, but with their wider restructuring programme completed, £70 million of cost savings anticipated for the full year, and strong performances to date from certain geographies and service lines they  expect  performance for the full year to be in line with market expectations.

Asia Pacific are continuing to see good activity levels in the second half, particularly across investment and leasing teams. In Greater China DTZ have been involved in many of the major investment deals and maintain  the number one investment adviser position in terms of market share.

In their largest market, the UK & Ireland, DTZ are seeing increasing activity in the investment and occupier markets, led by Central London. For example DTZ  has recently concluded a major instruction for Macquarie Bank Limited, advising them on the acquisition of 217,000 sq ft at British Land's Ropemaker Place in the City of London, and advising Hammerson and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) which resulted in them securing the one million sq ft  Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow for £297 million, via a corporate purchase.

In Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), a continued lack of activity in both occupier and investment markets means trading there remains challenging. However, France and in particular Paris, is showing encouraging signs with transaction levels steadily improving.