Estate agent Savills hit by Brexit vote

Estate agent Savills said profits at its British commercial property business more than halved in the first six months of the year, hit by uncertainty in the run-up to the EU referendum that has made it harder to predict the full-year performance.

Savills, which makes 40% of its revenue in Britain, said it had seen a “significant fall” in transaction volumes ahead of the vote, pushing underlying profits for the UK commercial business down 54% in the first half.

Commercial property was one of the first areas affected by the referendum, with investors pulling cash out of funds and forcing many to be suspended — at one point freezing more than £18bn (€21.2bn) in the system.