Walker Crips Regulatory News (WCW)

13 Feb 2009 07:00

Walker Crips Group Plc

Interim Management Statement

Walker Crips Group Plc ("WCG" or the "Company"), the integrated financial services group, is today issuing an Interim Management Statement. The statement covers the period from 1 October 2008 to 12 February 2009, the latest practicable date prior to its publication. Financial data is for the trading quarter ended 31 December 2008 (the "Quarter") unless otherwise stated.

The Quarter is the third of WCG's current financial year. As predicted in the Company's Interim Results, released in November 2008, trading during the Quarter was impacted by the turbulence within financial markets but was in line with the Board's expectations.

Unaudited net revenue for the Quarter was £2.74m and for the nine months ended 31 December 2008 was £9.8m (2007: £10.8m), a relatively modest decline of 9.3 per cent. 

Further cost reduction measures were initiated during the Quarter with the aim of ensuring that WCG maintains an appropriate cost base without reducing the efficiency of its service levels. The full impact of all of these initiatives, expected to be in excess of £1.0 million on an annualised basis, will not be felt until the next financial year. 

Our asset management subsidiary (WCAM) continued to perform well over the Quarter. Funds under Management (FUM) fell by less than 3 per cent to £391m at 31 December 2008 (30 September 2008: £403m), comparing favourably with the decrease in the FTSE 100 index over the same period of 9.6 per cent.

Walker Crips Structured Investments, our recently-formed and fast-growing business unit focused on tailored investments for discretionary customers and external intermediaries, has just completed its third successful product launch.

Since the end of the Quarter WCG's markets have continued to be volatile and remain difficult to predict. However, the Board is confident that WCG will be well positioned when market conditions improve. The Group's balance sheet is underpinned by strong cash resources, providing the financial flexibility to fund suitable bolt-on acquisitions as they become available.

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13 February 2009