The year to 30 April 2009 presented exceptional challenges to businesses across the world. The global economic crisis and resulting unrelenting pressure on the world’s real estate markets due to limited liquidity, diminished transaction volumes and declining asset prices has inevitably significantly impacted DTZ and its peers.

Against this backdrop, the Group is managing the business in accordance with the following key principles:

• Maintaining its ‘best in class’ client service
• Reducing its cost base, with a focus on enhancing the Group’s margins
• Providing sufficient working capital to enable the Company to weather the current market volatility
• Restructuring the business to ensure it is best placed to benefit from a future recovery in market conditions.

As the extent and depth of the current recession became clear, the Company’s management team took, and continues to take, a number of significant and decisive steps to adapt the business to the trading environment and best prepare it for the future. The resulting transformation and re-focusing of DTZ is proceeding so that the core capabilities of the firm are being enhanced for the benefit of all our key stakeholders - shareholders, clients and employees.

Results

As anticipated and indicated to shareholders in our Interim Management Statement on 20 March 2009, our financial performance during the reporting period reflects the significant challenges we, and the rest of the industry, are experiencing around the world.

Revenue for the year ended 30 April 2009 was £364.1 million (2008: £446.3 million), an 18.4% decrease over the previous year’s performance.

The Group made a loss before taxation and exceptional items of £35.1 million (2008: profit £20.6 million). After exceptional items the Group reported a loss of £79.7 million (2008: profit £5.6 million). Exceptional items comprised restructuring charges of £17.3 million, and a non-cash impairment charge of £27.3 million relating to our North American operations.

Further details of the results and the Group’s cash position are given in the Financial Review.

At the half year, I stated that the Board would reassess the dividend policy at the year-end to reflect the results for the full year and the outlook for the business. In light of the continued weak trading during the second half of the year and the need to preserve cash in the face of prevailing uncertain economic and market conditions, the Board considers it prudent not to declare a final dividend. The total dividend for the year is therefore nil pence (2008: 6.5 pence).

Capital Raising

On 16 January 2009 the Group announced that it had raised approximately £48.7 million, before expenses, through a Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer. The success of this issuance signalled a significant vote of confidence from both existing and new shareholders.

The strengthening of our financial position has continued following the year-end with the further renegotiation of the Company’s banking facilities and the provision of an additional credit facility of up to £15.0 million by SAS Saint George Participations (‘SGP’), our largest shareholder, to support the acceleration of our restructuring plans.

We are grateful to SGP for their resolute ongoing support. We have established an excellent relationship over the last three years and are now delighted to be benefiting from their counsel on the Group Board.

Strategy

There are currently three key elements to our strategic plan:

• The completion of the Group’s restructuring process and the realisation of the full financial benefits
• The further evolution and globalisation of a uniform service platform, underpinned by highly efficient and transparent reporting and management processes, to improve operating margins and lower the cost base
• The identification of opportunities to grow our market share and achieve organic growth in those markets which we identify as offering the best prospects.

The detail of this strategy, achievements to date and ongoing implementation are set out in the Chief Executive’s Review.

Management

In November last year, the Board appointed Paul Idzik as Group Chief Executive. Formerly the Group Chief Operating Officer at Barclays Plc, Paul brings to his new position a proven track record of running a significant international business, developing people and building teams. Beyond his strategic and operational talents, it has also become very clear to me that his superb client skills are totally consistent with the DTZ culture.

Since joining DTZ, Paul has implemented a series of senior hires and promotions to reshape the executive management team, with a focus on improving the Group’s financial performance and management discipline, complementing the existing talent pool of the Group. A key element of this was the creation of an Executive Committee led by Paul and comprising:

• Serkan Bektas - Global Head of Capital Markets
• John Forrester - Head of the UK & Ireland business
• Isaac Krymolowski - Global Head of Consulting & Research
• Killian O’Higgins - CEO of Asia Pacific
• Bob Rickert - Group Finance Director and Global Chief Operating Officer who, as announced to shareholders, was formally appointed to the Group Board in May.

The Group’s EMEA business will also be represented on the Executive Committee in the near future.

Board Changes

In addition to the appointment of Paul Idzik and Bob Rickert, as outlined above, there were a large number of Board changes during the period under review, the majority of which were related to the fundraising and structural changes initiated in January.

Mark Struckett, who had been DTZ’s Chief Executive since 1994, stepped down from the Board in November and Colin Child, who had been Finance Director since October 2007, resigned in March.

Les Cullen and Dag Detter, who had been Non-Executive Directors; and David Gray, Killian O’Higgins and Robert Peto, all Executive Directors, also stepped down during the year. While David left DTZ after eight years, Robert and Killian remain with the Group in senior positions.

Frank Piédelièvre, Pascal Derrey and François Tardan of SGP all joined the Board as Non-Executive Directors.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have left the Board for their considerable contribution to the Group during their tenure. I also want to welcome Frank, Pascal and François and, as mentioned above, say that we are already benefiting from their considerable expertise and experience.

Employees

This has been a very difficult year for the employees of DTZ. However, in the midst of all the changes and challenges, they have remained acutely focused on their clients and taken great pride in their work. On behalf of the Board and senior management, I want to extend my appreciation to all of them for their understanding and continued commitment to the firm. The recognition and retention of our top talent is a clear priority for the Group as we structure our business for future success. We are, therefore, undergoing a thorough review of our reward and incentive schemes, to ensure that our future approach allows us to continue to attract, retain and reward the best talent in the market. We anticipate this becoming a key factor in future recruitment initiatives.

Outlook

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. In the meantime, the diversification of our activities, geographic spread and client base ensures that we continue to benefit from areas that have not been as badly affected by the current challenges, whilst affording us some protection from those which have.

With the strength and depth of our talent and service offering and the decisive actions we have taken and continue to take to reshape the Group, we are creating a business which will emerge competitively stronger. The ‘new’ DTZ will contain all of the familiar characteristics of client-focus and creativity, based on a lean, global platform capable of transferring the best practices of one geography or skill set to any other within the organisation. I am confident that these measures will underpin the future prosperity of the Group.