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Cenkos in expansive mood
Broking and investment group Cenkos Securities is extending its coverage and hiring staff after a 79 per cent annual profits drop.
AIM-quoted Cenkos, which specialises in smaller and medium-sized companies, saw pre-tax profits fall from £24 million to £5.1 million last year, as the stock market blizzard sent revenues 44 per cent down to £28.3 million. Placing fees halved, corporate finance income was only modestly lower and commission income eased and market making was a £3.9 million drain, though wealth management income rose 53 per cent to £2.9 million.
Chief executive officer Andy Stewart says the company is experiencing ‘market and economic conditions the like of which I have not seen before’, but insists Cenkos is well placed to hire able people from some of the larger investment group casualties and expand its areas of expertise. The company is currently involved in a £100 million fund, having recently raised £130 million for Omega Insurance and £80 million for Juridica Investments.
With a 40 per cent fall net trading investments to £8.8 million and a £2.8 million fall in the fair value of its holding in PLUS Markets Group, Cenkos ended the year with cash down by nearly £10 million to £6.3 million. But the company had already lifted that to £11.1 million by the end of February, thanks to Omega and other deals.
Stewart argues now is the time to build up good teams, who will have learnt the hard way not to expect the stratospheric pay and conditions of the boom years. ‘There have never been more opportunities for a small operation like ours’, he declares.
‘We take one in ten of the applicants who come to us’, says Stewart, adding that the company has no plans to raise money. ‘I don’t want a load of cash’.
Cenkos’s performance is a far cry from that of fellow AIM–quoted broker WH Ireland, which recently reported a £4 million annual loss. At 105p, down from 270p in 2007 but up from 68p in February, its shares remain below their 2006 float level of 140.5p, but should outperform some of its peers.
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