British real estate agency DTZ Holdings posted a pretax loss before exceptional items of £35.1 million (Dh213m) for the year to end-April, as the worldwide property downturn hit sales of the company.
DTZ, which operates in 162 cities worldwide, said yesterday it had secured an additional credit facility of £15m since the year-end from its largest shareholder SGP to support an acceleration of its restructuring plans. The property firm said full-year revenue fell 18 per cent to £364m, and recorded exceptional charges of £44.6m in restructuring costs and a non-cash impairment from the sale of a unit.
Shares in DTZ, which listed on the stock market in 1987, have lost at least two thirds of their value over the past 12 months.
"The headline figures are of course ugly but are a reflection of the substantial restructuring of the business over the past 12 months," said Cazenove analyst Carl Gough.
DTZ raised £48.7m from shareholders in January to shore up its battered balance sheet.
Chairman Tim Melville-Ross said yesterday: "The ability to predict the future for the real estate and financial markets is as difficult today as it was when the downturn began two years ago. It will take the reappearance of liquidity in meaningful amounts before stability and greater certainty return."
The real estate downturn has also hit other property firms such as CB Richard Ellis and Savills and DTZ, which had raised £48.7m through a share placement last December, said it would not pay a dividend for the year.
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