Cavendish (AIM:CAV), the AIM-listed UK investment bank and adviser to small and mid-cap companies, reported a 2.2% rise in full-year revenue to £56.9m for the year ended 31 March, up from £55.6m a year earlier, though the headline gain masked a drop in the firm's preferred earnings measure.
Core profit before tax fell to £3.5m from £3.7m, and core earnings per share slipped to 0.80p from 0.94p, as the private markets division absorbed the loss of two sizeable deal fees that fell away during the period despite transaction volumes actually ticking up to 34 from 31.
Statutory profit before tax improved more sharply, rising to £1.5m from £0.7m, while year-end cash stood at £19.2m against £21.2m the prior year, with the group remaining debt-free and total assets broadly flat at £77m.
Recurring revenues and trading income grew to 35% of group revenues from 31%, and the public markets business reported a net increase in client numbers in the second half, with Cavendish now advising one in every nine listed companies in the UK.
"Our nascent regional private markets team became profitable in the latter part of the year, and stronger origination is reducing reliance on third-party referrals," said co-chief executives Julian Morse and John Farrugia, who flagged near-term uncertainty in equity markets linked to inflation and interest rate expectations but pointed to potentially supportive conditions if monetary easing resumes.
