Newcastle based investment firm's profit dives
Jun 2 2009 By The Journal
INVESTMENT manager Brewin Dolphin is upbeat despite seeing first-half profits sink by more than a third.
The firm, with more than 300 staff in Newcastle, earned £104.7m, up 1% in a year. It says it is confident of recovery after pre-tax profits fell to £13.6m, dragged down by redundancy costs.
Executive chairman Jamie Matheson said: "We have lived through a time that saw us experience the unimaginable and I am reasonably confident that we are through the worst. We are seeing successful fundraisings happening across the market – that is a very important sign when people see value in equity." UK-listed companies have had record equity fundraisings this year despite credit scarcity, and stock market rebounds have given confidence equity prices will keep rising.
Excluding redundancy costs from pre-tax profits mitigates the fall to 23%, with earnings per share down two-fifths. Investment management profits rose 5% to £101.2m. Revenues fell from £95.1m to £89.6m.
Brewin‘s Newcastle office is its third- biggest in the UK and HQ of its investment banking arm. Office head Charles May said: "I am very pleased with the contribution the Newcastle office has made to these figures, which show the resilience of our business in challenging times.
"I am pleased to report that for Newcastle new business levels have been the highest on record over the last six months. Our recent high-profile marketing campaign combined with our move to state-of-the-art offices in Gallowgate, Newcastle, have served to emphasise the stability, high quality and depth of our investment management business in the region."
