* Advised on 3 IPOs in H1
* Expects increased IPO activity in H2
* H1 pretax profit plummets 84 percent
* Sees lower H2 costs
By Richa Naidu
Sept 24 (Reuters) - Panmure Gordon & Co Plc said itexpected a "meatier" second half as IPO activity in Britainpicks up and the investment bank and stockbroker reins in costs.
The 137-year-old company, which advises more than 110London-listed companies ranging from FTSE-100s to small caps,worked on three share listings in the first half of 2013,including the 1.54 billion pound ($2.47 billion) offering oflife insurer Partnership Assurance Group in June.
"I think confidence has been showing just in indexperformance in the UK market, so people are looking as much atnew vehicles to capitalise on as existing ones," Chief ExecutivePhillip Wale told Reuters, adding that the mood was completelywidespread across sectors.
Subdued listing activity due to the global financial crisishad hit small brokers hard in recent years, but more companiesare expected to tap the public markets in the coming months asrising stock markets whet investor appetite.
Twenty-two British companies had listed as of Sept. 19,raising a total of $3.9 billion in proceeds - more than doublethe figure last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.
"I spoke to a fund manager on Friday last week, who iscurrently looking at 20 IPOs ... that's a significant change onwhere markets were two years ago," Wale said.
British companies that have already floated shares in thesecond half of 2013 - or plan to do so - include Foxtons, Riverstone Energy Limited, Merlin Entertainments , Tungsten Corporation Plc and Royal Mail .
Boutique investment bank Shore Capital last weekreported first-half profit that more than doubled, as a pickupin the British economy and government schemes drove a revival ofdomestic small cap companies.
COSTS HURT FIRST-HALF PROFIT
Panmure Gordon's pretax profit from continuing operationsplummeted 84 percent to 335,000 pounds ($537,100) in the sixmonths ended June, hit by administrative costs associated with areorganisation programme it undertook last year.
Panmure, whose offices are located in England, Switzerlandand Singapore, said net commission and fee income rose 16percent to 13 million pounds, but could not offset a near 40percent rise in administrative costs.
The bank said it expected pre-bonus operating costs to belower in the second half of the year. "Our expectation is thatour costs are slightly weighted towards the first half of theyear - we expect those to come down in the second half," ChiefFinancial Officer Philip Tansey said.
Shares in Panmure, which in 2005 listed on the AIM exchangethrough a reverse takeover of Durlacher Corporation, weretrading down 1 percent to 137.9 pence at 0902 GMT on the LondonStock Exchange.