Hit to City bonuses as Square Mile faces severe slowdown

ROFITS and revenues crashed at City broker Numis, the latest sign that the Square Mile is facing a severe slowdown.

That in turn is likely to lead to lower bonuses for investment bankers and traders, which also means a hit to government tax payments.

The broker, a City success story that has grown rapidly under co-chief executives Alex Ham and Ross Mitchinson, saw revenues for the last six months slump 36% to £74 million. Profit tumbled 66% to just £13.4 million.

While that still represents Numis’s second best half-year ever, the figures show just how severely nerves about the Ukraine war have hit the finance sector.

Few companies have been coming to market or seeking funds to expand while they hunker down. Numis still has 183 corporate clients, down by 2, but they are plainly cautious.

Revenue per head fell 43% to £457,000, and staff numbers were steady at 320. That means they stopped hiring, at least in this six-month period.

Ham and Mitchinson said: “Capital markets activity has recovered to some extent following an exceptionally quiet three-month period at the start of the year and we have completed both private and public markets capital raisings in recent weeks. However, investor confidence remains relatively fragile given continued inflation concerns and geo-political uncertainty and therefore the capital markets outlook remains difficult to predict.”