LONDON (Alliance News) - Numis Corp PLC on Friday reported a rise in interim revenue and profit, boosted by strong performance in its Corporate Broking & Advisory unit.
The stock was down 0.2% on Friday at 409.00 pence each.
The AIM-listed stockbroker and corporate adviser posted a pretax profit of GBP19.5 million for the six months to the end of March, up from GBP10.5 million for the same period a year earlier.
This was after revenue rose 41% to GBP74.1 million from GBP52.4 million year-on-year. Revenue from Corporate Broking & Advisory business activities totalled GBP50.9 million in the period, up 76% increase from GBP28.9 million in the prior year.
Numis said transaction volumes have been broadly consistent with the comparable period, however, it benefited from a material increase in average deal.
Equities division delivered revenue of GBP23.3 million, down 0.7% from GBP23.4 million the year before, hit by the significant regulatory change introduced through the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.
Administrative costs climbed 26% to GBP54.8 million versus GBP43.4 million the prior year, due to investment in headcount and the improved revenue performance resulting in higher variable compensation.
Numis declared an interim dividend of 5.50 pence per share, unchanged from 2017.
In the post period, the company completed number of Capital Markets transactions, but Equities revenues remained broadly flat. Looking ahead, Numis said it will focus its efforts on providing high quality independent advice to clients and will continue to take advantage of opportunities to strengthen its capabilities.
"Numis has followed up an excellent performance in the second half of last year with another strong performance in the first half," said Co-Chief Executive Officer Alex Ham. "As we look to take the business to the next level, we intend to enhance our client offering by investing further in our platform and recruiting a selective number of high calibre individuals."
