Numis Corporation PLC (AIM: NUM) swung to a loss in the first half to end-March 2009, hit badly by losses from its investment portfolio in the period.
The holding company of independent investment banker and stockbroker Numis Securities Ltd made a pretax loss of £6.35 million compared with a 16.1 million profit in the previous first half. Pretax before the investment portfolio result dripped to £1.7 million from £6.8 million previously.
Revenue dropped to £19.13 million from £28.86 a year earlier, but the group is maintaining the interim dividend at 2.5 pence a share.
Chief executive Oliver Hemsley said: “Although market conditions remain challenging, the core business of Numis is profitable; we are winning new corporate clients, attracting high quality employees, and controlling costs.
“We remain optimistic about the future of our business as our larger competitors are focused elsewhere and smaller rivals are capital constrained. We sense the best opportunity that the firm has ever had and we are well placed to capitalise on it,” he added.