(Sharecast News) - Cavendish Financial said in an update on Thursday that in the second half of its financial year it experienced significant growth, with revenues expected to reach £34.5m, representing an increase of around 77% compared to the pro forma revenue of £19.5m in the first half.
The AIM-traded firm, formerly known as finnCap Group, said that as a result, it expected its statutory revenue for the entire year to be around £47.5m, up 44% year-on-year.
On a full-year pro forma basis, revenue was projected to be about £54m, up from £50.5m in the prior financial year.
The board said the newly-merged team at Cavendish delivered a second-half performance that exceeded expectations, driven by the completion of multiple deals across all segments of the business.
This strong performance also helped strengthen the company's balance sheet.
As of 31 March, Cavendish Financial's cash reserves stood at about £20.8m, up from £12.3m at the half-year mark.
The firm had also successfully secured annualised synergies amounting to £7m, and was continuing to generate additional savings stemming from the merger.
Those efforts hd led to a substantial reduction in the run-rate cost base of the merged group.
"Whilst the interest rate cycle appears to have peaked, conditions continue to impact demand for UK equities, making deal execution in ECM challenging across all market participants," the Cavendish Financial board said in its statement,
"However, private and public merger and acquisition [activity] has remained buoyant in the second half, and our pipeline across both ECM and M&A remains good."
At 1126 BST, shares in Cavendish Financial were up 32.05% at 11.42p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Cavendish Fin (CAV)