3rd Mar 2015 08:01
LONDON (Alliance News) - Tullett Prebon PLC Tuesday reported lower profit and revenue for 2014 as market conditions for interdealer brokers remained challenging amid subdued trading activity, and it said revenue in the first two months of 2015 is flat excluding its recent acquisition of PVM.
It said it is hard to accurately predict the level of activity in the markets it serves, although it's set to get a further boost from cost cutting measures it took last year, while its acquisition of PVM will give it a lift.
The broker also said it had decided to retain the settlement money it got from its dispute with BGC rather than returning any to shareholders, because it wants to fund business development including acquisitions.
Tullett reported a pretax profit of GBP33.5 million for 2014, down from GBP84.4 million in 2013, while the figure excluding exceptional and acquisition-related items fell to GBP86.6 million from GBP99.6 million as revenue declined to GBP703.5 million from GBP803.7 million. It booked GBP53.1 million of exceptional and acquisition-related items in 2014, up from GBP15.2 million in 2013.
Its closely-watched underlying operating profit fell to GBP100.7 million, from GBP115.4 million, although it managed to protect its operating margin at 14.3% compared with 14.4% due to the cost cutting.
Its pro-forma result for the year, which includes the results of PVM as though it had been part of the business for the full year, was revenue of GBP772.2 million, and an operating profit of GBP112.1 million.
It completed the acquisition of energy broker PVM on November 26. It said energy now accounts for 22% of pro-forma revenue.
Despite the profit fall, Tullett said it will pay an unchanged final dividend of 11.25 pence, meaning the total dividend was also unchanged at 16.85p.
"Looking forward, we will continue to add products and services to facilitate our clients' strategies, incorporating content and technologies that add value," Chief Executive John Phizackerley said. "We will continue to look to make strides to exploit the opportunities in a consolidating marketplace."
"It remains difficult, however, to predict accurately the level of activity in the markets we serve. Revenue in the first two months of 2015, excluding PVM, and at constant exchange rates, is unchanged compared with the equivalent period last year. We will continue to show discipline on costs. The benefit of the actions we have taken through the cost improvement programme in 2014 will continue to flow through in 2015, particularly in the first half," he added.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
TLPR.L