CBRE profits off nearly 90 percent

Reduced leasing and sales activity drove net income for CB Richard Ellis Group down by 88 percent and revenues down by 12 percent in the second quarter, the company reported.

Net income in the three months ending June 30 was $16.6 million on revenues of $1.3 billion, compared with net income of $141.1 million on earnings of $1.5 billion for the same period in 2007, according to an earnings report from the international real estate service company.

Los Angeles-based CBRE blamed the weak results on reduced sales, harmed by the tightening of global credit markets, and a softer leasing market, primarily in the United States and United Kingdom.

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“Investment sales activity remained quite soft due to a broadening of the credit market turmoil and a continuing gap between buyer and seller expectations of property values,” Brett White, president and chief executive officer of CBRE, said in a statement Wednesday.

The company expects markets to improve in mid-to-late 2009.

Despite a difficult year, CBRE is winning the local leasing wars, according to Crain’s, brokering the vast majority of Manhattan office leases this year. CBRE signed 4.9 million square feet compared with Cushman and Wakefield’s 1.9 million square feet.