Commercial real estate services firm JLL raised its profit outlook after posting a 44% jump in third-quarter earnings, fueled by double-digit gains in property sales and other deal revenue.
The Chicago-based company said revenue rose 10% to $6.5 billion from the prior-year quarter — its sixth straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth — fueled by a 22% increase in capital markets and strong increases in office and industrial leasing revenue.
JLL, the world's second-largest firm of its kind after CBRE, reported a profit of $222.8 million in the quarter, up sharply from the $155.1 million a year earlier, as the company’s results were boosted by accelerating activity across all its main businesses.
JLL joined CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Newmark and Colliers in posting double-digit revenue gains in the latest quarter. All of the firms except for Colliers raised their overall financial outlook for the rest of the year.
The firm increased the low end of its target adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the full year by $75 million, to a new range of $1.38 billion to $1.45 billion.
“Though the macro environment remains dynamic, the economic outlook and forward indicators for transactional markets stabilized and improved during the quarter,” CEO Christian Ulbrich said during an earnings call Wednesday. “Both occupier and investor clients are motivated to transact.”
Global office leasing revenue jumped 14% year over year as JLL benefited from increases in both the size and total volume of lease deals, Chief Financial Officer Kelly Howe said.
Industrial leasing, driven by strength in the U.S., grew by a higher-than-expected 6% from the prior-year quarter, Howe said.
“Looking ahead, we entered the fourth quarter with a healthy leasing pipeline as client demand for high-quality assets continues,” Howe added.
Marcus & Millichap, the last of the publicly traded brokerages to post quarterly results, is slated to release earnings on Friday.