Revenue up, but profits down. That was the mixed message from Thompson Heath Bond last week as it announced its half-yearly figures. For the six months to 31 October, the broker reported pre-tax profits of £0.9m compared with £1.05m in the same period last year. Turnover increased from £13.8m in 2003 to £15.4m for the same period.
THB chairman Vic Thompson said: "The weakness of the US dollar, continuing difficulties faced by THB Risk Solutions and the absence of the large profit sharing commissions earned in the second half of 2003/2004, lead us to anticipate significantly lower profits for the second half of this year. Despite this challenging short-term outlook, we believe that THB's staff and management are well equipped to find opportunities among the uncertainties of the market,"
Markets, however, were not impressed and the firm's share price dropped by more than 10% on the news to 75p from 85p.
