Tullett Prebon posts serious underlying growth in first half

The FTSE 250 firm’s operating profit of £67.0m was a rise of 11% on the same time last year, with its operating margin of 15.6% an improvement on last year’s 14.6%.

Its profit before tax rose to £60.3m from £52.9m, with basic earnings per share reaching 21.0p, compared with 17.7p last year.

On a reported basis, operating profit fell to £45.4m from £118.8m, profit before tax dropped to £35.5m from £111.1m, and basic earnings per share slipped to 11.9p from 36.2p.

“I am pleased with the financial performance in the first half of 2016,” said chief executive John Phizackerley.

“A resilient performance from the broking business in challenging markets saw the subdued client demand in some of our heritage product areas more than offset by the performance of our Energy and Commodities, and Equities products.

“Revenue of £430m was 4% higher than in 2015 with underlying operating profit increasing by 11% to £67m,” Phizackerley added.

He said the company’s goal is to become the world's most trusted source of liquidity in hybrid OTC markets and the best operator in global hybrid voice broking.

“Our acquisition of IGBB, which provides a unique opportunity to accelerate the delivery of our strategy, is on track.

“We are in advanced planning for the integration of the two businesses after completion of the transaction, which we expect will be during the latter part of 2016,” Phizackerley explained.

At the same time, Tullett said it was continuing to look for opportunities to increase revenues and raise the quality and quantity of earnings.

“This will be achieved through further diversification of the client base, continued expansion into Energy and Commodities, building scale in the Americas and Asia Pacific, and preserving the business' core franchises.”