Cushman loses $32M in 2009: parent firm

Losses for the global commercial services firm Cushman & Wakefield doubled in 2009 compared to 2008, according to its Italian parent company, even as Cushman’s main global rivals reported mixed results in what was widely seen as the most difficult real estate environment in decades.

Cushman lost $32 million in 2009 on gross revenues of $1.5 billion, compared with a loss of $14 million on gross revenues of $1.8 billion in 2008, its parent company, Exor, reported.

The Cushman numbers were published on Exor’s Web site today as part of the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting. The annual figures were originally published last month, but were not widely reported in the United States.

In the Americas, revenues were down by 19 percent to $808 million last year from $1 billion in 2008.

The company said the decline in the Americas was, “primarily due to weak U.S. market performance.” Cost-cutting measures kept losses from widening, the firm said.

Robert Rozek, company CFO, said the company was profitable in the third quarter but lost money in the fourth, even as revenues picked up by 11 percent over the fourth quarter of 2008.

“We had strong revenue growth but [special] charges had a negative impact,” Rozek told The Real Deal.

Other major firms had differing results. CB Richard Ellis reported earnings of $33 million in 2009, while Jones Lang LaSalle lost $4 million, each firm reported. FirstService, parent company of FirstService Williams, reported it had a net loss of $55 million last year. FirstService Williams will change its name to Colliers International Monday.

While Exor is a company whose shares are traded publicly on the Italian stock exchange, Manhattan-based Cushman & Wakefield is privately held