Close Brothers posts 50% jump in profits

16th Mar 2010 07:11

Merchant bank Close Brothers reported a 50% jump in half year profits thanks to a strong performance in its Banking and Securities divisions.Operating profit before tax from continuing operations rose to £62.3m in the six month ended 31 January from £41.5m last time. Broker Numis Securities forecast that the group would announce a pre-tax profit of £54.6m.Close Brothers' Banking division saw its loan book increase by 9% to £2.6bn, helped by a strong performance in retail. The interim dividend has been held at 13.5p. In Banking, the group expects a continued solid result for the second half of the year, as it sees further good demand for its specialist lending services. While there has been some improvement in bad debts, the outlook remains sensitive to the economic environment, it added. In Asset Management, it expects the current performance to continue into the second half of the year reflecting ongoing investment spend in Private Clients. However, in Securities, performance remains sensitive to market conditions and Winterflood has had a quieter start to the second half in February and March relative to a very good first half. "Given the good performance in the first half, and subject to the continuation of the prevailing market conditions, the group remains confident of delivering a solid overall result for the 2010 financial year," the group said.