Interim Results

Numis Corporation PLC
28 April 2004


               Embargoed for release 7am Wednesday 28 April 2004

                            Numis Corporation Plc
             Interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2004


Numis Corporation Plc ('Numis') today announces unaudited interim results for
the six months ended 31 March 2004. Numis is the holding company of Numis
Securities Limited, a growing investment banking and stockbroking business.


Highlights

•        Turnover up 84% to £21.2m (2003: £11.5m)

•        Profit before tax up 120% to £11.2m (2003: £5.1m)

•        Basic earnings per share up 87% to 43.8p (2003: 23.4p)

•        Exceptional profit of £0.8m in the period (2003: nil)

•        Net assets increased by 100% to £41.2m (2003: £20.6m)

•        £268m raised for corporate clients in the period (2003: £240m)

•        Corporate client list increases from 40 to 70

•        Maiden interim dividend of 2.5p per share (2003: nil)

Oliver Hemsley, Chief Executive of Numis, said:

'We are delighted to report that our profit before tax more than doubled during
the period. Numis continues to thrive and is now recognised as a leading
investment banking and stockbroking business focusing on mid and small cap
companies.

We have made a satisfactory start to the second half of the year. Equity market
conditions have improved but we remain cautious. We will continue to build the
business through the acquisition of high quality teams and clients.'

Contacts:

Numis Corporation
Oliver Hemsley, Chief Executive              020 7776 1500

Gavin Anderson & Company
Neil Bennett                                 020 7554 1400
Laura Hickman


Chief Executive's Statement

Results

We are pleased to report that the Group's profit before tax for the six months
ended 31 March 2004 more than doubled to £11.2 million (2003: £5.1 million).
Operating profit, which excludes an exceptional profit of £0.8 million relating
to a sale of shares in Abbey Legal Holdings Limited, increased by 111% to £9.7
million (2003: £4.6 million). Turnover increased in the period to £21.2 million
(2003: £11.5 million). Basic earnings per share before the exceptional profit
were 40.7p (2003: 23.4p) while net assets have increased to £41.2 million (2003:
£20.6 million).



Dividend and Scrip Alternative

The board declares payment of a maiden interim dividend of 2.5p per share (2003:
nil). The dividend will be payable on 7 July 2004 to all shareholders on the
register on 7 May 2004. Shareholders will be offered the option to receive
shares instead of a cash dividend. The details of this will be explained in a
circular to accompany our Interim Report.



Corporate Finance & Corporate Broking

We have successfully raised a record £268 million (2003: £240 million) for
corporate clients in the first six months of the financial year. During the
first quarter 2004 Numis was ranked as the leading book runner in the UK for
IPOs (Source: Thomson Financial) and we continue to strive to bring high quality
companies to our institutional clients.



We now have 70 corporate clients compared with 40 at the same time 12 months
ago. We are continuing to attract high quality corporate clients across all the
sectors where we specialise whilst at the same time building our corporate
broking team to enhance our service. Numis has become recognised as a leading
corporate broker to mid and small cap UK companies.



We continue to develop our Corporate Finance business through the addition of a
number of high quality individuals and we are confident of growing our client
list whilst at the same time improving the level of service that we provide.



Research, Sales & Trading

We have added a number of analysts in the last six months to enhance our
coverage of UK quoted companies. Regulation surrounding stockbroking research is
undergoing substantial revision and we are adapting our business to meet these
changes. High quality analysis and opinion has always been a hallmark of our
research and we are confident that this will remain the case.



The UK equity market has improved significantly in terms of volumes and levels
in the last 12 months. Our share of market volume has also risen and we continue
to strive to improve our service to institutional clients. This drive to improve
our product and service has begun to bear fruit and institutional commissions
have increased by 123% over the same period last year. Our market making team
continues to make progress and we now make markets in over 200 stocks. We will
increase this number where we believe we can add liquidity and expertise.



New York Office

We have opened a small office in New York and have recently received our
dealer-broker licence. Once we have finalised our internal processes we will be
able to commence trading and introduce our UK corporate clients to US
institutions.



Outlook

We are very grateful to everyone at Numis for their efforts, which have
contributed to record profits during the period. Equity market conditions have
improved but we remain cautious and we are mindful of this as we grow the
business. We intend to keep a firm control on costs and are determined to build
a business that can prosper in good markets and be resilient in poorer ones.
Numis has developed a strong culture of equity ownership amongst employees which
helps create a sense of common purpose and drive.



We have made a satisfactory start to the second half of the year and are
confident that there are opportunities for us to grow the business in a
consistent and measured way.



Oliver Hemsley
Chief Executive
28 April 2004



Consolidated profit and loss account
Unaudited results for the 6 months ended 31 March
2004
                                                   6 months ended  6 months ended      Year ended
                                                        31 Mar 04       31 Mar 03      30 Sept 03
                                                        Unaudited       Unaudited         Audited
                                                           £000's          £000's          £000's

Turnover                                                   21,240          11,500          23,994


Administrative expenses                                  (11,515)         (6,914)        (15,097)
                                                       __________      __________      __________
Operating profit                                            9,725           4,586           8,897

Share of associated undertaking's profit                      347             195             243

Exceptional item
-profit on disposal of fixed asset investments                773               0               0
                                                       __________      __________      __________

Profit on ordinary activities before interest and          10,845           4,781           9,140
amounts written off investments

Interest receivable and similar income                        395             311             656
Amounts written off investment                                  0               0           (384)
Interest payable and similar charges                          (6)             (8)            (11)
                                                       __________      __________      __________

Profit on ordinary activities before taxation              11,234           5,084           9,401


Taxation on profit on ordinary activities                 (3,370)         (1,525)         (2,966)
                                                       __________      __________      __________

Profit on ordinary activities after taxation                7,864           3,559           6,435


Dividends paid and proposed                                 (484)               0         (1,382)
                                                       __________      __________      __________

Retained profit for the period                              7,380           3,559           5,053

Earnings per share
Basic                                                       43.8p           23.4p           40.2p
Diluted                                                     38.8p           19.5p           34.5p

Earnings per share, excluding exceptional item
Basic                                                       40.7p           23.4p           40.2p
Diluted                                                     36.1p           19.5p           34.5p





Consolidated balance sheet
Unaudited as at 31 March 2004
                                                       31 Mar 04         31 Mar 03    30 Sept 03
                                                       Unaudited         Unaudited       Audited
                                                          £000's            £000's        £000's
Fixed Assets

Tangible fixed assets                                        788               910           848
Fixed asset investments                                    3,189             1,720         2,803
Investment in associated undertaking                         795               617           644
                                                      __________        __________    __________
                                                           4,772             3,247         4,295
Current Assets
Debtors                                                   96,348            17,324        52,393
Investments                                               21,087             3,972         8,952
Cash at bank and in hand                                  16,778            15,698        13,100

                                                      __________        __________    __________

                                                         134,213            36,994        74,445
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year                     (97,768)          (19,616)      (48,101)
                                                      __________        __________    __________

Net current assets                                        36,445            17,378        26,344
                                                      __________        __________    __________


Net assets                                                41,217            20,625        30,639

Capital and reserves
Share capital                                              4,843             3,906         4,595
Share premium                                             14,558             3,781        11,608
Profit and loss account                                   21,816            12,938        14,436
                                                      __________        __________    __________

Equity shareholders funds                                 41,217            20,625        30,639




Consolidated cashflow statement
Unaudited for the six months ended 31 March 2004
                                                       31 Mar 04         31 Mar 03    30 Sept 03
                                                       Unaudited         Unaudited       Audited
                                                          £000's            £000's        £000's

Net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating                 3,499             3,355       (4,969)
activities

Returns on investments and servicing of finance
Interest received                                            332               307           624
Interest paid                                                (6)               (8)          (11)
Dividends received                                             4                 4            11
                                                      __________        __________    __________

Net cash inflow from returns on investments and
servicing of finance                                         330               303           624
                                                            

Taxation
Corporation tax paid                                     (1,720)             (636)       (2,144)

Capital expenditure and financial investment
Purchase of tangible fixed assets                          (174)              (33)         (179)
Purchase of fixed asset investments                        (136)             (500)         (620)
Sale of fixed asset investments                              870                 0             0
                                                      __________        __________    __________

Net cash inflow / (outflow) from investing
activities from capital expenditure and financial
investments                                                  560             (533)         (799)
Equity dividends                                         (1,010)             (607)         (607)

Financing
Issue of ordinary shares                                   2,019               230         7,409
                                                      __________        __________    __________

Increase / (decrease) in cash in the period                3,678             2,112         (486)



Reconciliation of net cashflow to movement in net
funds

Increase / (decrease) in cash balances in the              3,678             2,112         (486)
period
Net funds at the beginning of the period                  13,100            13,586        13,586
                                                      __________        __________    __________

Net funds at the end of the period                        16,778            15,698        13,100




Notes
Accounting policies

The accounting policies that have been applied to the unaudited results are
consistent with the latest published audited accounts.



Exceptional item

On 30 January 2004, Numis realised a profit on disposal of £0.8m from the sale
of its 26.42% shareholding in Abbey Legal Holdings Limited. As part of the sale
proceeds, Numis retains 30.0% of the company that acquired Abbey Legal Holdings
Limited and, of the sales proceeds, £719,000 remains receivable at the balance
sheet date.



Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is based on profit on ordinary activities after
taxation of  £7,864,000 (2003: £3,559,000), adjusted to £7,828,000 (2003:
£3,538,000) to remove dividends held in the Numis Employee Share Trust, on a
weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period of
17,885,592 (2003:  15,118,029). 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.



Administrative expenses

Administrative expenses include a provision for incentive payments of £4.3m
(2003: £2.2m).



Dividend

The board declares payment of an interim dividend of 2.5p per share (2003: nil).
The dividend will be payable on 7 July 2004 to all shareholders on the register
on 7 May 2004.



Reconciliation of operating profit to net cashflow from operating activities

                                                                31 Mar 04      31 Mar 03     30 Sept 03
                                                                Unaudited      Unaudited        Audited
                                                                   £000's         £000's         £000's

Operating profit                                                    9,725          4,586          8,897
Depreciation charges                                                  234            202            407
Amounts written off tangible fixed assets                               0              0              3
Increase / (decrease) in debtors (excluding taxation
receivable)                                                       (43,221)          1,307       (33,737)
Net (increase) in trading investments                            (12,135)        (1,132)        (6,112)
Increase / (decrease) in creditors (excluding taxation and
dividends payable)                                                 48,896        (1,608)         25,573
                                                               __________     __________     __________
Net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating activities               3,499          3,355        (4,969)




Audited results

The audited results for the year ended 30 September 2003 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 shortly. 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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