LOS ANGELES-CB Richard Ellis Group on Tuesday reported higher revenue and earnings for the second quarter of this year as CEO Brett White cited "a very strong pick-up in property sales and leasing, reflecting recovering market conditions" in the US. CBRE reported $54.8 million of net income, or 17 cents per share, on revenue that climbed to $1.2 billion in a 23% increase from the second-quarter last year. The company's EBITDA more than doubled to $161.6 million in the second quarter from $68.4 million a year earlier.

The earnings for the second quarter this year, which compared with a loss of $6.6 million and two cents per share for the second quarter last year, far outpaced analysts' estimates. The 17 cents per share was nearly double the Thomson One consensus estimate of nine cents per share.

The results marked CBRE's strongest quarterly year-over-year growth in revenue since the fourth quarter of 2007. “Our financial performance continued to strengthen across most business lines globally," White said in a prepared statement.

In addition to the strong pick-up in US sales and leasing, White noted that Europe "produced robust growth, fueled by the recovery of the property sales market in the larger economies such as the U.K., Germany and France." Growth was also sustained in the Asia Pacific region, he said.

White explained that the higher CBRE net income resulted from both the general recovery and the steps that the Los Angeles-based company has taken to reduce expenses by more than $600 million. The cuts in expenses assured that "even a modest recovery would produce outsized gains in profitability," White noted.

Among the highlights of the earnings report: CBRE's revenue rose at a double-digit rate across all major business lines, except development services, with property sales and leasing growing globally by 61% and 29%, respectively. Globally, outsourcing revenue, including property and facilities management, increased by 10% in the second quarter, its strongest growth since the third quarter of 2008. The company signed 34 multi-year contracts, its highest quarterly total ever.

CBRE pointed out that although the market for distressed asset dispositions has developed more slowly than originally expected, the company has continued to capture substantial opportunities in this sector. In the US, it is now marketing more than $7.5 billion of distressed assets and has sold more than $1.3 billion of such assets since the beginning of the year.

CBRE also made headway on its balance sheet. "Following the close of the quarter, the company pre-paid $150 million of its Term B loans maturing in December of 2013. In addition to the interest expense savings on the pre-paid debt, this pre-payment will lower the annual interest expense on the company’s remaining $898 million of Term B loans by 50 basis points," it stated.