Numis Corporation PLC (LON:NUM), the stockbroking firm, is looking to helping its clients raise new equity to get them through the coronavirus pandemic period.
Numis said it has supported a number of its clients in recent weeks by helping to raise equity to provide additional liquidity in response to the disruption being caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The company released its results for the six months to the end of March in which it revealed a modest increase in profit before tax to £7.3mln from £7.1mln the year before on revenue that rose 13.3% to £63.1mln from £55.7mln.
Investment banking revenues were down 5% year-on-year due to lower deal volumes in line with the UK market but equities revenue increased by 55%, reflecting higher market activity levels and strong trading gains.
Notwithstanding the latter, the collapse in stock markets in March led to a £1.9mln write-down in the value of Numis’s investment portfolio.
The interim dividend has been maintained at 5.5p.
“Whilst the pandemic is currently dominating markets, this event will eventually pass and the strength of our balance sheet ensures we can continue to focus on our long term strategic priorities. Our stability and consistency has underpinned our ability to capture market share gains through difficult market environments in the past and we expect to emerge from this challenging period with our business in a strong position," said Alex Ham and Ross Mitchinson, the joint chief executive officer of Numis.
Shares in Numis were unchanged in early deals.