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Shareholders responded enthusiastically to Panmure Gordon’s (LSE:PMR) first half year report, boosting its share price by 17.44% to 165.00 from yesterday’s close of 140.50. The last time PMR shares were above 160.00 was 04 April this year. It’s an impressive gain based on an impressive report, but the share price still has a ways to go to get back to its 52-week high of 180.00.
CEO Phillip Wale must have been ecstatic to report that he was “pleased to report an impressive start to the year built on the hard work of recent years as we continue to be engaged on more transactions for our clients in a market that, whilst challenging, has improved over the period.”
Wale and his officers appear to be bringing the company through the operational storms it encountered as a result of the economic crisis and the 2007 acquisition of San Francisco-based ThinkEquity. That £31.9 million purchase ended up costing Panmure Gordon more than £38.0 million more than the purchase price in losses, until it divested the company via a management buyout in March 2012. ThinkEquity filed for bankruptcy the following November.
It has taken Panmure Gordon last two years to recover from what Mr. Wale described as a “disastrous business” decision. Now he says that “We look to strengthen the solid underlying business with additional diversity of earnings and a continued investment in good people when the opportunities present themselves,” and that “We have an encouraging pipeline of corporate transactions and look forward to the rest of the year with confidence.”
Report Highlights
- Pre-tax profit from of £1.9 million, up from £0.3 million year-on-year
- Post-tax profits of £1.6 million, up from £0.1 million
- Earnings per share of 10.00 pence, up from 0.93 pence
- Net commission and trading income of £5.4 million, up 26% from£4.3 million
- Corporate finance and related income of £11.5 million, up 22% from £9.5 million
Those are some pretty substantial and impressive figures. Top them off with a debt-free balance sheet, and you’ve really got something. Apparently, shareholders agree.
