DTZ profits on the slide as crunch fallout takes its toll

Property consultant DTZ today admitted its profits will be hit by the global credit crunch and warned the US is heading towards recession.

Chairman Tim Melville-Ross said full-year results will be affected by the "challenging conditions" in world financial and property markets, and predicted a sharp slowdown in global economic growth in 2008.

It came as DTZ, which bought rival Donaldsons in July for £60 million, reported a fall in profits for the six months to the end of October from £15.4 million to £11.7 million.

Melville-Ross said: "Recent events and investor uncertainty concerning the economic outlook and the potential impact on the property market have caused shares in property and property-related companies to fall considerably. The group has inevitably been affected by this uncertainty and we expect the full-year results to reflect these challenging conditions."

DTZ shares have crashed from 835p early this year to a low of 282p this month. Melville-Ross said there would be no quick turnaround for the industry with the crisis in financial markets spreading.

"We expect global economic growth to moderate further next year, and it is clearly possible that the US economy will go into recession," he said. "This, coupled with widespread credit tightening in financial markets globally, could lead to more difficult economic and property market conditions around the world throughout 2008.

"The UK and US property investment markets are adjusting to lower values but we believe there is still some potential for further decline. With tight credit conditions, we believe we are unlikely to see a recovery in these markets during the current financial year, and indeed the impact may be spreading to continental Europe."