Russian broker Otkritie in 120pc earnings hike after hiring drive
RUSSIAN brokerage Otkritie Securities raised its operating profit by 120 per cent in the year to December after more than doubling its total wage bill by hiring new staff, accounts showed yesterday.
Otkritie, the City-based subsidiary of Russian investment bank Otkritie Financial Corporation, said operating profit hit £1.4m in 2010, up from £652,000 in 2009, while its turnover grew 122 per cent to £20.1m.
The accounts said the turnover increase was “primarily due to an increase in trading activity from institutional clients”.
But its remarkable growth was mirrored in the rapid growth of its salary bill, to £3.4m in 2010 from £1.6m the previous year, the accounts filed at Companies House showed.
Its employee numbers rose 40 per cent in the year, to 70 people from 50 at the end of 2009.
The bank has publicly said its aim has been to hire aggressively in Moscow, Frankfurt and New York as well as London over the past two years, poaching staff from rivals such as Renaissance Capital for corporate finance, research and sales roles.
Otkritie is chaired by Howard Snell, the former chief executive of Troika Dialog’s UK business.