20th Jul 2005 11:00
Charles Stanley Group PLC20 July 2005 Speaking today at the Annual General meeting of Charles Stanley Group PLC thechairman, Sir David Howard, said: Trading in the first quarter of our year, to 30th June, has been satisfactoryand turnover is running about 13% ahead of the first quarter last year. Anelement of this improvement relates to business that we have acquired in recentmonths, and our profits (at this early stage of the year) are in line withexpectations. In current market conditions we regard this as a satisfactory achievement.Despite an improvement in the FTSE-100 share index of nearly 5% over the lastthree months, the confidence of investors remains fragile in view of a raft ofpessimistic predictions about the economy. I am delighted to announce that we opened our new branch office in Glasgow atthe beginning of June. This is our third major development in Scotland. Itfollows the very successful purchase of the business of the Edinburghstockbroking partnership of Torrie & Co in 2002, and of Sutherlands, awell-known bond broking and research house, last year. The new team in Glasgowhas got off to an excellent start, and we are pleased to have this opportunityto underline our commitment to Scotland. At the same time we have been joined by a significant team of investmentmanagers in London. And we have several new products and services that we areclose to launching. In my chairman's statement I said that, subject to there being no deteriorationin the economic fundamentals, I looked forward with a degree of optimism to theyear ahead. Economic conditions are far from buoyant, but at this early stage ofthe year we continue to look forward with optimism. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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