Numis upbeat despite loss

Stockbroker Numis slumped to a loss of over £10m last year as write-downs on its investment portfolio and fewer company listings took their tollRevenue in the year to September fell to £47.5m (2008: £50.7m) with underlying profits down to 4.2m (2008: £8.4m). There was a pre-tax loss of £10.5m after £7.8m of losses incurred on investments held outside of its market making business and £6.9m of share scheme charges."We are encouraged by the improved market conditions during the second half and have taken full advantage of the opportunity to grow our secondary market business," chief executive Oliver Hemsley said."Numis has made an excellent start to its new financial year having already raised £353m of equity funds for its corporate clients and won a number of high quality corporate brokerships," he added.The final dividend increases by 10% to 5.50p, making a total dividend of 8p per share.