(Reuters) -Real estate services provider CBRE warned on Thursday that tariff uncertainty was weighing on its outlook, even as resilient demand at its leasing unit and a rebound in property sales helped it top first-quarter Street expectations.
Return-to-office trends have improved as office occupiers regain confidence and boost leasing activity, particularly in the U.S. Meanwhile, a rebound in property sales, especially in the Americas and EMEA, points to growing investor appetite.
However, a wave of sweeping and erratic tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump has caused chaos in global markets, with companies finding it difficult to predict where their businesses stand and plan for possible scenarios.
“Since (the end of the first quarter), driven by the uncertainty created by the tariff situation, our outlook has become less clear,” CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic said.
“Even in light of this, our current activity levels and new business pipelines continue to be strong, just somewhat less than they were,” he said.
The Dallas, Texas-based company said it was maintaining its annual core profit forecast of between $5.80 per share and $6.10 per share instead of raising it, because of the “significant market uncertainty” that is offsetting a strong pipeline.
CBRE, which has more than 140,000 employees in over 100 countries, posted core earnings per share of $0.86 for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts’ estimate of $0.77, according to data compiled by LSEG.
First-quarter revenue rose 12.3% to $8.91 billion, in line with analysts’ estimate of $8.91 billion.
(Reporting by Rupali Chaudhary in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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