Savills to strengthen property investment advisory business

Savills Singapore plans to strengthen its property investment advisory business and its residential marketing arm in Singapore in order to expand in the country.

The Singapore arm of London-listed Savills plc is now headed by Chris Marriott, the group’s chief executive for Southeast Asia. The company’s former managing director for Singapore, Michael Ng, left for Singapore Land and its parent company United Industrial Corporation in October.

Since his takeover, Mr. Marriott, who has been in the company for over 15 years, has been working to grow the group’s Singapore operation, as well as its coverage in the Asia-Pacific.

The group is on course to achieve its targets for the year, said Mr. Marriott in an interview with The Business Times.

“I am very bullish at the moment about Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region,” said Mr. Marriott. “We are looking for both organic growth as well as growth through acquisitions.”

Mr. Marriott is optimistic despite the fact that the company has recently lost two of its senior management. June Chua, head of commercial leasing, is leaving the company to join another firm, while head of property management, Chia Shee Liang, has resigned to join a listed developer.

Despite this, Mr. Marriott said there are still plenty of capable people to grow the business. Savills Singapore will report a record profit for this year, while earnings before tax will likely increase by around 70 percent year-on-year, he said.
 
In the near future, Savills Singapore will announce the acquisition of a majority stake in a real estate investment advisory firm. With this deal, the company will start helping clients acquire property in the Asia Pacific. The group also plans to grow its residential business by employing more associates.