WH Ireland revenue falls, losses widen in first half

The AIM-traded firm put the fall in revenue down to a decline in the wealth management division's revenue, which stood at £6.3mm, compared to £7.3m in the first six months of 2022, and a decrease in the capital markets division's revenue, which slid to £4.4m from £7m.

It recorded an underlying loss before tax of £1.8m for the six months ended 30 September, widening from the £0.9m reported a year ago.

The statutory loss before tax was £3.9m including non-recurring costs of £1.7m, and basic losses per share totalled 4.36p, compared to 0.59p year-on-year.

During the period, WH Ireland raised gross proceeds of £5m through a share placing in August, which contributed to cash balances of £6.9m on 30 September - an improvement from £4.2m at the end of March and £6.3m a year earlier.

Cash balances remained stable, totalling £6.8 on 30 November.

In terms of divisional highlights, the wealth management division reported total group assets under management of £1.8bn, down from £2.1bn in the first half of 2022.

The capital markets division had 86 corporate clients, compared to 90 in the same period a year earlier, and completed eight fundraises compared to 15.

Capital markets assets under management totalled £602m, down from £672m a year earlier, although the board said the division had won two new corporate clients since the end of the reporting period.

In November, the company announced board changes, including the appointment of Simon Moore as non-executive chair subject to FCA approval, and Garry Stran as a non-executive director.

Simon Lough, Helen Sinclair, and Tom Wood stepped down.

Looking ahead, WH Ireland reported a substantial cost reduction exercise since the end of the first half, reducing total headcount from 156 to 111.

The exercise was expected to result in £3.8m in annual cost savings, with benefits in financial performance anticipated in the second half and beyond.

WH Ireland also achieved underlying monthly profitability on an unaudited basis in November.

“WH Ireland's interim results reflect both the well documented challenging market backdrop, as well as the impact of the non-recurring costs incurred in streamlining the business after the refinancing in the summer,” said chief executive officer Phillip Wale.

“Market conditions, while remaining challenging, have shown some tentative signs of improvement in both indices and activity levels since November, enabling us to undertake some of our largest fundraisings for many months across both public and private markets.

“WH Ireland is now in a stronger financial position as a result of the delivery of our cost efficiency programme and it was pleasing to see the business deliver underlying monthly profitability in November 2023.”

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.