TP ICAP PLC (LSE:TCAP) shares jumped 11% to 220.3p after it published record annual profits, delivered upbeat guidance, a new £30 million share buyback and flagged a potential separate listing for its Parameta Solutions data and analytics arm.
Revenue of £2.2 billion for 2023 was up 4% on the previous year, or 3% if currency swings are excluded.
By division, Global Broking revenues were roughly flat, Energy & Commodities up 18%, Parameta up 8%, Liquidnet (institutional trading network and dark pools) was down 1%.
Underlying profits (adjusted EBIT) rose 9% to £300 million, which chief executive Nicolas Breteau said was the highest level of profit ever achieved by the group.
He hailed the record growth for Energy & Commodities, which also delivered adjusted EBIT up 45%.
Adjusted earnings per share jumped 17% to 29.2p, a significant beat to the City consensus forecast of 25.5p.
The dividend was hiked 15% to 14.8p, including a final payment of 10p.
"As ever, our outlook is largely subject to market conditions," said Breteau. "Whilst we expect interest rates to decrease during 2024, we believe they will remain elevated versus recent history.
"This, combined with uncertainty around the pace and quantum of interest rate cuts, elections globally, and ongoing geopolitical events, will continue to drive volatility that is supportive of our Global Broking and Energy & Commodities businesses, where we anticipate trading volumes to remain solid.
"Liquidnet and Parameta Solutions showed an improving growth trajectory in the second half of 2023 - providing good momentum into 2024."
TCAP said it is exploring a potential IPO of a minority stake in Parameta Solutions as the "intrinsic value of Parameta is not appropriately reflected in our share price".