28th Apr 2015 07:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Share PLC, which operates stockbroker The Share Centre Ltd, Tuesday said trading in its first quarter was in line with expectations, reporting a fall in revenue due to uncertainty among its customers ahead of the UK's General Election this May.
In a statement, Share said revenue in the three months ended March 31 showed an 11% decrease year-on-year, though it claimed that the revenue of its peers decreased by 13% in the same period. Share said its market share against peers increased to 7.48% in the first quarter, compared with 7.30% in the corresponding period of the prior year. Market share fell from 7.61% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
"Specifically, as peers continue to re-align models from trail commission and other revenues to fees, as well as seeing a similar drop in dealing activity, they have seen other income streams fall. It is worth noting that many peers now have a value-related fee structure. We believe that this penalises investors and is unsustainable in the longer term, but does deliver revenue increases just as a function of rising market values," Share said in a statement.
Share compares its revenue and market share against Alliance Trust Savings, Barclays Stockbrokers, Equiniti, Halifax Sharedealing, HSBC Stockbrokers, Saga Personal Finance, Selftrade and TD Direct Investing. The measurement, which is calculated by ComPeer Ltd, includes Share's commission, fees and interest.
Assets held on behalf of customers increased by 8% to GBP2.7 billion over the course of the quarter, Share said, while cash held on behalf of customers was up by 27% as the quarter as customers prepared for the end of the tax year in the UK.
Share PLC shares were down 1.0% at 38.38 pence on Tuesday morning.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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