Highlights

• Third quarter revenues rose 12% to $1,637.6 million and adjusted EBITDA rose 14% to $218.8 million; adjusted EPS was $1.97.

• Engineering revenues jumped 33% and adjusted EBITDA 39%, while Investment Management Assets under management reached $110.5 billion.

• The 2026 outlook for revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS growth was revised to low-teens from mid-teens.

Colliers International Group Inc. (TSX:CIGI) issued its third quarter results on Wednesday, showing double-digit growth in Revenue and adjusted Earnings while lowering its expectations for the remainder of the year. Revenues rose about twelve per cent to roughly one point six four billion American dollars, adjusted EBITDA increased about fourteen per cent to near two hundred and nineteen million, and adjusted Earnings Per Share climbed by about a fifth. The revised outlook now points to low-teens growth for the full year rather than the mid-teens pace previously indicated.

A Three-Platform Business

The company describes itself as a diversified professional services and investment management group organized around three platforms: Commercial Real Estate, Engineering and Investment Management. Annual revenue is about six billion dollars, and the firm employs roughly twenty-eight thousand professionals and manages about one hundred and ten billion dollars of assets on behalf of investors. That mix matters because the segments respond differently to the economic cycle. Transaction-driven brokerage depends on financing conditions, engineering revenue follows infrastructure and development spending, and investment management earns recurring fees on Capital raised.

Management said that approximately seventy per cent of trailing earnings came from businesses it classifies as resilient, a category that includes recurring property services, engineering and asset management fees. Trailing free Cash Flow reached about four hundred and twenty-eight million dollars, which exceeded the level of adjusted net earnings.

Engineering Leads the Quarter

Engineering was the standout. Revenues rose by about a third to roughly half a billion dollars, and adjusted EBITDA increased by close to two-fifths, supported by acquisitions completed over the past year and solid internal growth. Margins on net revenue widened modestly. Reported operating earnings in the segment were flat, however, because acquisition-related amortization and contingent consideration expenses weighed on the statutory measure.

That divergence between adjusted and reported profit is a recurring feature of acquisitive professional services firms. Contingent consideration, which represents payments owed to sellers of acquired businesses if performance targets are met, is recorded as an expense when those targets look more achievable, and so tends to rise when acquired units perform well. The same dynamic explains why reported Diluted Earnings per Share fell to fourteen cents from eighty-two cents even as adjusted earnings per share rose.

Commercial Real Estate Shows a Late-Quarter Slowdown

The Commercial Real Estate platform grew revenue by about five per cent, with Capital Markets revenue up roughly nine per cent, led by the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Leasing revenue rose by about six per cent against a strong prior-year comparison. Management noted that deal activity slowed toward the end of the period as Interest Rate Volatility increased, a comment that echoes broader market conditions after a stretch of uncertainty about the path of borrowing costs on both sides of the border.

Adjusted EBITDA in the segment improved by about a tenth, aided by Operating Leverage on higher transactional revenue. For Canadian readers, the relevance extends to the domestic market, where the Bank of Canada's policy decisions influence Mortgage rates, commercial financing and the willingness of owners to transact. Recurring outsourcing and advisory income cushions the company when transaction volumes soften, but sustained rate swings would still be a drag on capital markets volumes.

Investment Management and Corporate Costs

Investment Management revenue grew modestly, but adjusted EBITDA declined slightly as the company continued to invest in people, new capabilities and integration under the global Harrison Street Asset Management brand. Assets under management reached about one hundred and ten and a half billion dollars, up two per cent from a year earlier, reflecting new capital raised net of realizations. Fee-earning capital is the base for future recurring income, so fundraising momentum is likely to remain one of the more closely watched indicators.

Corporate costs were roughly flat to slightly lower. Taken together, the three platforms produced a quarter in which two segments increased profit meaningfully and one was held back by deliberate investment.

Balance Sheet, Cash Flow and Acquisition Spending

Operating cash flow in the quarter was about one hundred and fifty million dollars, and free cash flow was about one hundred and seventy-seven million, both ahead of last year. Acquisition spending fell sharply to about thirty-six million dollars in the quarter, compared with much larger outlays a year earlier, though spending over the first nine months totalled more than eight hundred million dollars after a busy stretch of purchases earlier in the year.

Total debt, excluding mortgage Warehouse facilities, was about two point four billion dollars, up from roughly one point eight billion a year earlier. The ratio of net Debt to pro forma adjusted EBITDA stood at two point seven times compared with two point three times a year earlier. Cash on hand was about two hundred and thirty-nine million dollars. Those leverage levels remain moderate for the sector, but they are higher than a year ago, which gives the slower acquisition pace some financial logic. Participants who track Midcap Stocks often watch this balance between growth by acquisition and Balance Sheet capacity.

The Revised Outlook

The more consequential element of the release was the guidance. Management trimmed its expectations for revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share growth to the low-teens range for the year. The change reflects results through the first nine months and the anticipated effects of geopolitical uncertainty and interest rate volatility for the rest of the year. The outlook excludes any further acquisitions, so deals completed in the fourth quarter would add to the stated range.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jay Hennick tied the more cautious fourth quarter view to external uncertainty and not to the strength of the business, and described each platform as being run like an owner-operated enterprise with a long-term compounding objective. Segment-level drivers were deferred to the earnings presentation, which was not part of the news release.

Risks and index Context

Several risks frame the investment case. Transaction revenue can move quickly with Credit conditions, currency translation affects reported results because most revenue is earned outside Canada, and acquisitions bring integration, retention and contingent payment obligations. Engineering Demand depends on public and private infrastructure budgets that may shift with fiscal policy. Real estate valuations, particularly for office and certain industrial assets, remain sensitive to financing costs.

Colliers is a mid-sized Canadian-domiciled issuer listed on the TSX and tracked within broader benchmarks, including the [S&P/TSX Composite Index] and the [S&P/TSX Completion Index], which covers mid-cap constituents. Market Participants will likely focus on whether late-quarter softness in capital markets persists into the new year and whether engineering growth can offset it. A conference call was held on Wednesday morning.