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Troubled commercial property agent DTZ today axed its dividend after the recession sent it crashing to its first loss.
The London-based firm reported losses of £79.7 million for the 12 months to the end of April against profits of £5.6 million the previous year.
The dismal result forced new chief executive Paul Idzik, a former banker at Barclays, to axe the dividend for the year having paid 6½p a share last time around.
Shares in DTZ, which listed on the stock market in 1987, have lost two thirds of their value over the past 12 months.
“The headline figures are of course ugly but are a reflection of the substantial restructuring of the business over the past 12 months,” said Cazenove analyst Carl Gough.
Idzik has embarked on a deep cost-cutting programme since his appointment last year and dozens of senior fee earners have left the firm in recent months.
Headcount in the UK fell from 2170 to 1800 last year with many job losses coming in London.
DTZ raised £48.7 million from shareholders in January to shore up its battered balance sheet.
Chairman Tim Melville-Ross said today: “The ability to predict the future for the real estate and financial markets is as difficult today as it was when the downturn began two years ago. It will take the reappearance of liquidity in meaningful amounts before stability and greater certainty return.”
