DTZ Echinox turnover up 100%

Real estate company DTZ Echinox has announced a 100% increase in turnover for the first nine months of the year, compared with the same time in 2004, as a result of the growth in its land, investment and industrial space departments. “We are expecting revenues for the last four months of the year to equal those for the whole of last year,” said Tim Wilkinson, head of DTZ Echinox”s commercial department. The company posted approximately 170,000 euros in total revenues for 2004, according to the Finance Ministry. “The most spectacular growth was that on the market for civil and industrial land, both in Bucharest and in the rest of the country. An important segment that has been booming since the beginning of the year is property appraisal. Although it doesn”t appear to be the case, the decline in profitability from 10.5% to less than 8.5% in a single year for institutional investors is very spectacular, as well,” said Mihnea Serbanescu, DTZ Echinox general manager. DTZ Echinox acted as consultant in Austrian investment fund Europolis”s acquisitions on the Romanian market – the Europe House office building two years ago and the Cefin Logistic Park logistics project last year. Company officials say there are still segments on the market where demand outstrips supply by far, such as the commercial space market and the medium-income market for residential space. ZF