Savills PLC says property markets outside London have seen

PLC () said profits in 2020 were at the upper end of its expectations but the outlook is too uncertain to give guidance for 2021.

The FTSE 250 estate agent said it had seen excellent performances in the UK, Asia Pacific and in investment management.

The UK, in particular, had seen an ‘extraordinary rebound’ from the end of May, predominantly in the regional markets outside London, the company said.

Here, activity in prime residential markets for the year as a whole was the strongest since before the global financial crisis of 2008.

noted that its financial position had remained robust through the period and it finished the year with net cash in excess of £160mln (2019: £28.5mln).

The group suspended dividend payments earlier in the year.

“The pace and efficacy of mass vaccination programmes and consequent reductions in lockdown and travel restrictions will dictate the rate at which transactional markets recover from here to reflect underlying demand,” it said in the trading update.

“In general terms, we expect transactional activity to remain suppressed in the first half of 2021 with improvement commencing in some individual markets in the second quarter followed by progressive recovery through the second half of the year.”