LONDON (Alliance News) - Investment bank and stockbroker Numis Corp PLC on Friday said its pretax profit and revenue surged in the first half of its financial year and said it has appointed two co-chief executives to take over from its founder.
Numis said Oliver Hemsley will step down as chief executive in autumn this year. He will be succeeded by Alex Ham and Ross Mitchinson, who will become joint-chief executives.
Hemsley will remain on the board as an executive director, Numis said. Ham and Mitchinson will be appointed executive directors effective from July 1.
The change at the top came as Numis reported pretax profit for the half year to the end of March grew 41% to GBP16.8 million from GBP11.9 million a year earlier. Revenue for the half rose to GBP56.8 million from GBP45.7 million, the highest interim amount in the company's history, Numis said.
In the half, Numis raised GBP1.2 billion in funds for its corporate clients through 27 equity raisings, including 10 initial public offerings. The group also advised on 14 completed mergers and acquisitions activity.
Numis added the second half has started well, and its pipeline looks healthy for the coming six months.
Numis will pay a flat interim dividend for the half of 5.5 pence per share.
"The performance of the financial markets was mixed during the period, but we recorded record revenues for a half-year. We have been active in both fund raising and advisory and have continued to build our high quality client base," Hemsley said.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
