Panmure Gordon tumbles after saying it expects a full year loss

Shares in Panmure Gordon tumbled after the institutional stockbroker and investment bank said it expects to swing to a full year loss.

In a trading update for the financial year ending 31 December, the company said difficult market conditions have prevailed in the second half, causing a drop in capital market transactions and leading to lower revenue in 2015 and a number of corporate transactions being deferred into next year.

This will result in an expected loss after tax for the current financial year from normal operations of around £4m to £4.5m, Panmure said.

Still, it said the pipeline of corporate transactions scheduled to take place next year has continued to build to an encouraging level that should, subject to market conditions, generate better revenues.

Panmure added that regulatory capital and cash resources are healthy and supportive of the on-going levels of business activity.

Chief executive Phillip Wale said: "Deferment of deal-flow has led to a disappointing end to the year, however we look forward to an encouraging start to the first half of 2016.

“Over £500m has been raised for clients in 2015 and our strategy remains focused on advising corporate clients in the small to midcap market."

Panmure said that based on the strength of its mandated and prospective pipeline of corporate transactions, the benefit of the recent acquisition of Charles Stanley Securities and the continued support of its major shareholder, QInvest, it remains confident of future prospects.

At 0817 GMT, Panmure shares were down 40% at 50.15p.