Dow Jones Newswires | CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.’s first-quarter loss narrowed on
double-digit revenue growth as its Americas unit saw better results.

The commercial-brokerage giant’s earnings met Wall Street’s expectations
and the revenue exceeded them.

“Financial performance improved from a year ago in all geographic
regions and virtually every service line and was well ahead of our
internal expectations,” said President and Chief Executive Brett White.

CB Richard Ellis saw its revenue grow in the previous quarter for the
first time in nearly two years. The company, which has cut costs, also
has reported improving conditions in commercial real estate markets,
which had suffered from rising vacancies and declining rents and
property values. On Tuesday, rival Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL) said it
swung to a profit on double-digit sales growth.

For the latest quarter, CB Richard Ellis reported a loss of $6.6
million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $36.7
million, or 14 cents a share. Excluding restructuring and other charges,
the company had a 1-cent profit, compared with a prior-year loss of 3
cents, as revenue grew 15% to $1.03 billion.

Analysts estimated earnings of 1 cent on revenue of $951.3 million,
according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue for the Americas region grew 12% as earnings doubled. Global
investment-management revenue climbed 5.7%, while the segment swung to a
loss.

CB Richard Ellis’s shares closed at $17.24 and were inactive after
hours. The stock, which reached a 21-month high Monday, has almost
tripled in the past year.