FinnCap and Numis cheer profit boost as equity activity rises
CITY brokers Numis and FinnCap yesterday said London’s buoyant equity markets helped drive stellar profit increases at both companies, underscoring a turnaround in fortunes for the capital’s broking community.
Numis, which worked on floats including AO World, McColl’s and Arrow Global this year, said revenues rose 59 per cent to £51.5m and statutory pre-tax profits surged 85 per cent to £16.7m for the six months ending March due to busier markets.
Numis, which also offers investment bank services, said souring sentiment towards large investment banks had also contributed to its good performance.
“The banks haven’t done themselves any favours,” boss Oliver Hemsley said. “There was a recognition that the banks had imperilled the taxpayer and the whole economy.”
The firm picked up 16 new corporate clients in the year to take its total roster to 165.
FinnCap, which caters more for smaller sized companies, reported a 36 per cent rise in revenues to £15.5m for the 12 months ending April and nearly a doubling of operating profit to £5m.
Chief executive Sam Smith said the company was targeting larger fundraising for companies of between £40m and £50m and had a good pipeline of floats to work on. “We’ve got some pretty punchy forecasts because we think the market will be sustained,” she said.
The group added a net 12 new clients in the period, bringing its total to 122.