Braemar (LSE:BMS) has reported a 16% rise in first-half revenue to £74.3m for the six months to 31 August, up from £63.9m a year earlier, as all three of its divisions grew.
The London-listed shipping, investment and risk advisory broker, said underlying operating profit before acquisition-related expenditure rose 7% to £6m, after absorbing £1.4m of strategic investment in senior hires and a new power desk.
Reported operating profit climbed 85% to £5.6m, from £3m, while statutory profit before tax rose to £4.7m from £0.9m.
Chartering revenue rose 18% to £44.4m, Investment Advisory grew 10% to £15.1m and Risk Advisory increased 17% to £14.7m, with Braemar citing a strong rate environment and disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which lifted rates and asset values even as transit volumes through the strait fell.
The board declared an increased interim dividend of 2.75p per share, up from 2.5p, which it said reflects confidence in the group's prospects.
Net debt fell to zero at the period end, from £5.6m a year earlier and £2.9m at the last financial year-end, with net cash generated from operating activities rising to £8.4m from £1m.
"These are my first results as Group CEO and Braemar has delivered a strong first half," said Grant Foley, who succeeded James Gundy as Group Chief Executive at the AGM on 2 July.
"Risk Advisory, our regulated securities business, shows what the platform can do," Foley said, noting the division now accounts for around a fifth of group revenue and that every new desk sits on the same regulatory and compliance infrastructure.
The company hired seven senior brokers in the period against a full-year target of ten, and established a dedicated power desk within Risk Advisory, meeting one of the four operational targets it set alongside its FY26 results in May.
Braemar renewed and increased its revolving credit facility with HSBC in early October to £40m, with a further £10m accordion option, for three years with an option to extend by two more, giving it capacity for acquisitions that meet its evaluation criteria.
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The forward order book stood at $73.4m at 31 August, roughly level with $72.5m at the last financial year-end, and the company said it had since risen to $80.7m at 30 September.
Braemar said trading since the period end has continued to be strong and that the full year remains in line with company-compiled consensus expectations of £142.7m revenue and £14.2m underlying operating profit before acquisition-related expenditure for the year ending 28 February 2027.
The board reiterated its unchanged FY30 target of £200m revenue with a 15% underlying operating profit margin, and Braemar said it expects to announce full first-half results detail already covered here, with the company having flagged in September that full results would follow by mid-November.