Interim Results
Numis Corporation PLC
10 May 2002
Embargoed for release at 07.00 am Friday 10 May 2002
NUMIS CORPORATION PLC
Interim results for the 6 months ended 31 March 2002
Numis Corporation Plc ('Numis'), the investment banking and stockbroking
business, today announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended
31 March 2002.
Highlights of the results
• Profit before an exceptional item and tax of £3.7m (2001: £1.7m)
• EPS (basic) of 22.7p (2001: 7.9p)
• EPS (basic), excluding the exceptional item, of 17.8p (2001: 7.9p)
• Cash resources of £11.7m (2001: £6.0m)
• More than £180m raised for clients during the period
• Policy of recruiting first class individuals and teams continues
• Group reinstated in Cheapside offices after a 6 month absence due to a
fire
• Second half started well with 3 capital raisings totalling nearly £60m
Chief Executive's Comments
Commenting on the results, Oliver Hemsley, Chief Executive of Numis, said:
'We have had an excellent six months. Our strategy of concentrating on
specialist sectors and recruiting high quality individuals and teams is now
bearing fruit. Although market conditions remain difficult, we are confident
that we will report further progress for the full year.'
Enquiries
Oliver Hemsley Chief Executive Numis Corporation Plc 020 7776 1500
Duncan Sweetland Finance Director Numis Corporation Plc 020 7776 1500
Tom Wyatt Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113
Chairman's and Chief Executive's Statement
We are pleased to report that the Group's turnover for the six months ended 31
March 2002 increased to £9.4m (2001: £4.7m) and profit before tax rose to £3.7m
(2001: £1.7m) before the exceptional profit of £1.05m from the sale of part of
our shareholding in London Stock Exchange plc. This is a strong performance
against a background of difficult market conditions.
Basic earnings per share were 22.7p (17.8p excluding the exceptional item)
against 7.9p for the equivalent period last year. As at 31 March 2002, our cash
resources were £11.7m compared with £6.0m as at 31 March 2001 (including a near
cash investment of £5.2m). Currently, we hold 265,000 shares in London Stock
Exchange plc which remain in our books at zero cost.
Over the period, we have raised in excess of £180 million on behalf of clients.
This activity has continued in the second half with further capital raisings
already totalling nearly £60m. Our strategy of focusing on smaller and medium
sized UK companies and specialising in a number of sectors is beginning to bear
fruit. As a result we are extending our services to a wider range of companies.
Commissions from our secondary market activities more than doubled during the
period. This increase reflects our continuing focus on first class specialist
research and the addition of both new analytical teams and sales people. Our
specialist sectors now include media, financials, insurance, retail and
consumer, food producers, support services, life sciences and, most recently,
high-tech engineering.
Over the period, our market making business also performed well in challenging
market conditions. We now make markets in more than 120 stocks and will
increase this number in time with the expansion of our analytical coverage. The
number of corporate relationships rose from 15 to 22 during the period and has
continued to rise since 31 March.
At the start of our financial year, we were still located at temporary offices
in the City following the fire at our Cheapside premises in May 2001. In
December 2001, we returned to our refurbished offices, having also taken the
opportunity to reconfigure them to optimise our use of the space.
We are pleased that more than 60 per cent. of the staff at Numis are
shareholders. We believe this is crucial in creating a cohesive and dynamic
business where the interests of employees and shareholders are aligned. We
continue to seek to recruit on a selective basis high quality individuals, in
all areas of our business. There is still much work to be done but progress is
being made.
Outlook
The second half has started well despite continuing difficult market conditions.
We are optimistic for the prospects of the business in the longer term and are
confident that we will report further progress for the full year.
David Craig Oliver Hemsley
Chairman Chief Executive
10 May 2002
Consolidated profit and loss account
Unaudited results for the 6 months ended 31 March 02
6 months 6 months Year Year Year
ended ended ended ended ended
31 Mar 02 31 Mar 01 30 Sep 01 30 Sep 01 30 Sep 01
Unaudited Unaudited Audited Audited Audited
Ordinary Exceptional Total
Activities Items
£ £ £ £ £
TURNOVER 9,427,901 4,737,510 6,560,086 48,000 6,608,086
Administrative expenses (6,078,765) (3,424,494) (6,112,422) (1,553,500) (7,665,922)
OPERATING PROFIT/(LOSS) 3,349,136 1,313,016 447,664 (1,505,500) (1,057,836)
Share of associated undertaking's
operating profit/(loss) 229,315 214,331 (43,474) - (43,474)
Exceptional items
- profit on disposal of tangible fixed - - - 761,086 761,086
assets
- profit on disposal of fixed asset 1,055,654 - - 1,504,560 1,504,560
investments
PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
BEFORE INTEREST AND AMOUNTS
WRITTEN OFF INVESTMENTS 4,634,105 1,527,347 404,190 760,146 1,164,336
Interest receivable and similar income 243,523 176,916 604,119 - 604,119
Amounts written off investments (111,989) - - (1,460,614) (1,460,614)
Interest payable and similar charges (297) - (1,437) - (1,437)
PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
BEFORE TAXATION 4,765,342 1,704,263 1,006,872 (700,468) 306,404
Taxation on profit on ordinary (1,354,787) (526,916) (286,168) 200,694 (85,474)
activities
PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
AFTER TAXATION 3,410,555 1,177,347 720,704 (499,774) 220,930
Earnings per share
Basic 22.7 p 7.9 p 1.4 p
Diluted 19.8 p 7.6 p 1.3 p
Earnings per share, excluding
exceptional items
Basic 17.8 p 7.9 p 4.8 p
Diluted 15.5 p 7.6 p 4.3 p
Consolidated balance sheet
Unaudited as at 31 March 02
31 Mar 02 31 Mar 01 30 Sep 01
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
£ £ £
Fixed Assets
Tangible fixed assets 1,080,999 408,319 614,245
Fixed asset investments 992,366 1,044,095 773,715
Investment in associated undertaking 402,216 300,475 241,696
2,475,581 1,752,889 1,629,656
Current assets
Debtors 17,861,826 15,813,675 19,850,956
Investments 304,572 7,244,640 7,604,284
Cash at bank and in hand 11,694,160 817,524 97,437
29,860,558 23,875,839 27,552,677
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year (16,566,931) (11,792,648) (16,823,680)
Net current assets 13,293,627 12,083,191 10,728,997
Net assets 15,769,208 13,836,080 12,358,653
Capital and reserves
Share capital 3,818,000 3,786,750 3,818,000
Share premium account 3,275,925 3,175,925 3,275,925
Profit and loss account 8,675,283 6,873,405 5,264,728
Shareholders funds 15,769,208 13,836,080 12,358,653
Notes
Accounting policies
The accounting policies that have been applied to the unaudited results are
consistent with the latest published audited accounts.
Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share is based on profit on ordinary activities after
taxation of £3,410,555 (2001: £1,177,347), adjusted to £3,401,332 to remove
dividends held in the Employee Share Option Trust, on a weighted average number
of ordinary shares in issue during the period of 14,980,000 (2001: 14,875,833
). Diluted earnings per share assumes that options outstanding at the end of
the financial period were exercised at the beginning of the financial period
where the exercise price per share is less than the fair value of the price of
the share in the period.
Exceptional item
The profit on disposal of fixed asset investment of £1,055,654 relates to the
sale of 260,000 London Stock Exchange plc shares.
Dividend
The Group will pay no interim dividend (2001: Nil).
Audited results
The audited results for the year ended 30 September 2001 are an extract from the
latest published audited accounts and do not constitute the statutory accounts
as defined in Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The published audited
accounts have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and included the
report of the auditors that was unqualified.
Further copies
Copies of the interim statement will be sent to shareholders as soon as
practicable. Copies of this announcement are available free of charge for one
month from:
The Company Secretary
Numis Corporation Plc
Cheapside House
138 Cheapside
London EC2V 6LH
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