Property slump fears see DTZ cancel final dividend

The firm, which has an office in Leeds, has dropped the payout to bolster its balance sheet – despite booking a 110 per cent rise in profit before tax and exceptionals to 3.6m in the year to April 30 – as fiscal tightening measures cast a pall over the real estate revival.

After exceptional items of 26.5m, including redundancy costs and debt refinancing, DTZ made losses of 22.9m.

"I tell you, it is quite difficult out there right now," chief executive Paul Idzik said, defending a decision to cancel the dividend.

He cited considerable global "economic uncertainty and geopolitical risk" for DTZ's cautious stance. It said it was now focused on growing its business after a broad strategic review and restructuring at the trough of the global property slump.

Despite significant job cuts during the downturn, DTZ said revenues from its investment agency business climbed by almost a fifth to 46.6m, while its occupational and development markets business generated a 7.1 per cent increase in revenues to 118.5m.

Group revenue was marginally down by 2.2 per cent to 356m, while revenue from continuing operations grew 1.5 per cent to 351.4m. The Leeds investment team concluded deals on just under 100m of assets during the financial year.

It advised on Downing's sale of the Broadcasting Place development, which is let to Leeds Metropolitan University, to Aviva for 37.7m.

Tim Cameron-Jones, head of the Leeds office, said: "DTZ's 120 strong Yorkshire office in Leeds has made a solid contribution to group turnover during the financial year to the end of April 2010, despite the adverse market conditions. There were some significant deals for our Yorkshire region in the last financial year which demonstrate the strength of our local teams and our ability to meet our clients' evolving requirements."

He added: "While remaining cautious in light of continued economic uncertainty around the globe, we feel the progress we have made over the past year leaves us well-placed to continue to meet the challenges and work with our clients to target opportunities effectively going forward."