A bonanza of London stock market listings this year — from AA to Poundland — has helped small, independent brokers compete with the big boys and post bumper results today.
Broker Shore Capital revealed first-half profits were up 50% to £5 million and rival Cenkos’ profits jumped 650% to £23.5 million.
Howard Shore, founder and executive chairman of Shore Capital, said: “We have taken advantage of the trading environment to develop our business.”
The brokerage has been involved in £1.5 billion of fundraisings including the listing of discount chain Poundland and Shore said investors were turning away from the global investment banks to smaller brokers for the “level of service”.
The float of roadside assistance group AA boosted small-cap broker Cenkos whose dividend has doubled to 7p. It is now nominated adviser to 127 firms and was involved in six flotations and fundraising of £2.2 billion in the first half.
Shore dismissed fears that the IPO market will ease later this year and said: “The demand for Alibaba shows that for the right deal there is still money out there.” But he warned that geopolitical issues, such as sanctions on Russia, will continue to be a major worry.
This was in contrast to financial spread-betting firm IG Group which reported first-half revenue down 9% to £85.6 million. IG said low volume and volatility hit revenue in the three months to September.
