Allan Saunderson is managing editor of Property Finance Europe and a contributor to GlobeSt.com.

LONDON-International property adviser DTZ posted a loss of nearly £80 million for the fiscal year to end-April due to significant difficulties resulting from the global economic crisis, Chairman Tim Melville-Ross told the annual meeting in London recently. Revenue fell 18.4% to £364 million, and DTZ incurred restructuring costs of £17 million, with an impairment charge of £27 million.

However Melville-Ross said the group continues to make the business as competitive as possible to regain profitability. Cost savings should total £50 million in the current financial year, and to date, this has included the sale of DTZ's 50% interest in DTZ Rockwood in the US. A strategic review has meant reappraisal of many of DTZ's business and management teams, including the closure of operations in Austria and Portugal.

The key event of 2008/9, was the completion in January 2009 of an equity placement of £48.7 million, plus a credit facility of up to £15 million from its largest shareholder, SAS Saint George Participations. DTZ also restructured its banking facilities to extend loan maturities and relax covenants, as well as hiring a new chief executive Paul Idzik, formerly COO at the UK's Barclays bank.