Peel Hunt downgrades Savills, shares slide

Peel Hunt downgraded Savills to ‘add’ from ‘buy’ on Monday as it pointed to "tougher times".

The broker said it was cutting forecasts, with its FY22 pre-tax profit estimate down 11% and FY23/24 estimates down 18% and 15%, respectively.

Peel Hunt said transaction activity is under pressure, particularly in commercial markets, as yields and values adjust to changed interest rate expectations.

The broker said longer-term prospects are unchanged. It believes that property market activity will normalise over the next couple of years, allowing Savills to resume its longer-term growth track record.

"We continue to believe Savills is a high-quality business that should deliver attractive long-term growth," it said.

"However, the current market softness and FY23E outlook see us cut our target price from 1,275p to 1,000p and we downgrade our recommendation."

At 1055 GMT, the shares were down 8.6% at 858.50p.