Narrow second-quarter loss for Cushman

Rivals CBRE and Jones Lang reported profits in the same period

Glenn Rufrano

The red ink slowed in the second quarter for the world’s third-largest commercial services firm Cushman & Wakefield, as revenues increased, its Italian parent company Exor said.

The net loss at Cushman shrank to $2.4 million in the second quarter, down from $22 million in the same period a year earlier, Exor reported on its website Friday. Revenues rose by 16.5 percent to $414.5 million in the second quarter, up from $355.8 million in the same period last year.

Cushman’s rivals CBRE and Jones Lang both reported profits on double-digit revenue growth in the second quarter.

“Taking into account the seasonality in [the commercial real estate] business cycle that historically presents lower results, or losses, in the first two quarters of the year, as compared with the second half of the year, [Cushman] has shown a strong revenue performance in the first half of 2010,” the Exor release said.

Midtown-based Cushman has cut staff at its global headquarters by 12 percent, and began a restructuring of its management. It hired a new CEO, Glenn Rufrano, who on March 22, replaced Bruce Mosler, now co-chairman.

Cushman has about 13,000 employees globally and is majority owned by the Milan-based firm Exor, which owns car maker Fiat and other companies.

CBRE, headquartered in Los Angeles, reported in July that in the second quarter it had revenues of $1.2 billion, a 23 percent increase from the year ago period. The firm also reported net income of $54.8 million, compared with a net loss of $6.6 million in the same period in 2009.

Chicago-based Jones Lang said its revenues were up 18 percent to $680 million, and its net income was $32 million, compared with a net loss of $14 million in the same quarter of 2009.