CHICAGO—A steadily improving environment for the real estate industry has certainly benefitted Chicago-based JLL , which just reported a set of impressive numbers on its latest earnings. “We had a record third quarter,” Christie B. Kelly, the company's chief financial officer, told a group of shareholders, analysts and investment professionals on a conference call yesterday. Fee revenue totaled $1.2 billion, up 19% from the third quarter of 2013.
Furthermore, the company reported strong revenue growth in all service lines and across all geographic areas. And LaSalle Investment Management, its investment management business, also “had a record capital raise in the quarter,” Kelly added, with $5.1 billion in equity raised, bringing its year-to-date total to $7.3 billion.
“Market conditions and sentiment remain strong in real estate markets around the world, and the healthy pipelines across our business signal continued growth into 2015,” said Colin Dyer, president and chief executive officer of JLL.
Real estate services grew by 12%, LaSalle grew its advisory fees by 8%, and consolidated fee-based operating expenses, excluding restructuring and acquisition charges, were $1.1 billion for the quarter, compared with $897 million last year, an increase of 16%. “Adjusted EBITDA margin calculated on a fee revenue basis was 14.3% for the third quarter, compared with 12% a year ago,” the firm added.
The company also reported a steep decline in its net debt. The debt was $517 million at the end of the third quarter, or $248 million less than the third quarter last year.
Although JLL saw healthy growth across the globe, the revenue performance by the LaSalle segment and the company's overall revenue generated from the Americas contributed the most to this record quarter. LaSalle reported earning $162 million for the quarter, compared with $74 million last year. And the Americas segment reported that its fee revenue for the quarter was $521 million, an increase of 16% from 2013. Much of that growth was driven by revenue from capital markets and hotels, which went from $46.7 million in last year's third quarter to $72.3 million this time.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
