WH Ireland Group PLC (AIM:WHI) has said the current 'challenging' market environment would continue to impact the company into the second half of its financial year.
Despite implementing tighter cost controls, the wealth manager and corporate broker said it expects to report a small loss for the year as a whole.
As of 9 December 2022, the company had net cash of £6.75mln. Cash balances stood at £6.3mln at the period-end (September 30).
Turning to WHI’s financial performance, revenues fell to £14.3mln in the six months to September 30, 2022, down from £17mln in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Administrative expenses for the company were reduced by £2.2mln year on year, resulting in an underlying loss before tax of £900,000 compared to a profit of £1.1mln in the first half (H1) of 2021.
The Wealth Management division saw total assets under management fall to £2.1bn, down from £2.4bn in H1 2021. Discretionary assets under management also declined, from £1.2bn to £1.0bn.
However, the division did see an increase in the number of corporate clients, rising to 92 from 86 in H1 2021.
The Capital Markets division experienced a drop in revenue, from £9.2mln in H1 2021 to £7.0mln in the same period this year.
The division completed 19 transactions in H1, raising £37mln, down from £193mln in H1 2021.
Despite this, the division was able to win 13 new quoted corporate client retained mandates.
Commenting on the results in a statement, WHI chief executive Phillip Wale said: "Our first half was impacted as expected by the fall in markets and drop off in transactions on AIM.
“In the circumstances, we reported a relatively resilient performance and continued to develop the Group through selective recruitment and complementary new services, such as our debt capital markets team who completed another transaction this week.
“With a continued focus on operational efficiencies and the further development of our new and existing offerings, I believe we are well placed to take advantage of a market recovery."