Shore Capital interim profit and revenue rise

Shore Capital posted a 2.2% rise in interim pre-tax profit on Thursday as revenue grow, partly thanks to a solid performance from its capital markets division.

In the six months to 30 June, pre-tax profit rose to £2.5m from 2.4m the year before, on revenues of £20.3m, up 13%. Meanwhile, basic earnings per share were up 3.6% to 6.7p.

Revenues from the capital markets division rose 13% to £14.8m, while pre-tax profit grew 12.7% to £3.4m as it participated in three IPOs and 10 secondary fundraisings. In addition, it won eight new corporate clients, including Non-Standard Finance, Oxford Biodynamics and UP Global Sourcing Holdings.

It was a very different picture in the asset management arm, however, with revenues down 5.7% to £4.9m as profit declined to £400,000 from £1.3m the year before.

Executive chairman Howard Shore said: "The group has continued to make progress amid a challenging market and in the face of domestic political uncertainty driven by the weakened majority of the UK government following the general election in June.

"I am encouraged by the performance of our capital markets and asset management divisions. There is a significant opportunity for these businesses to continue winning market share as a number of major international banks either reduce capacity or withdraw from certain segments of the market. We therefore remain confident about the group's medium-term prospects for growth."

At 0950 BST, the shares were up 1.1% to 230p.