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Walker Crips Group PLC on Wednesday reported a wider half-year loss and lower revenue, citing ongoing internal challenges and a difficult market backdrop, as it prepares to be acquired by a Singapore-based creditor. The London-based stockbroker posted a pretax loss of £7.0 million for the six months that ended September 30, widened from a loss of £1.5 million a year earlier. Revenue declined 7.3% to £14.6 million from £15.8 million. The loss before tax included an exceptional non-cash impairment charge of £4.4 million relating to the write-down of goodwill. Excluding exceptional items, adjusted pretax loss was £2.6 million, compared with the same £1.5 million a year earlier. Basic and diluted loss per share widened to 14.85 pence from 2.56 pence a year before. Gross profit fell 7.4% to £12.1 million from £13.1 million, while administrative expenses edged down only slightly to £14.6 million from £14.7 million. Walker Crips said the weaker performance reflected a combination of broader economic uncertainty and internal factors, including elevated costs linked to regulatory enhancements and the migration of custody, trading and settlement operations at its investment management arm to BNY Pershing. The operational transition required ‘significant management focus, which affected the ability to execute on growth initiatives, thereby affecting expected revenues in the period,’ Walker Crips said. More positively, assets under management grew by 9.3% to £3.0 billion at September 30 from £2.7 billion at March 31, while total assets under management and administration increased 5.3% to £4.9 billion from £4.6 billion. The company declared no interim dividend, unchanged from a year before. ‘Whilst the results for the first six months have been disappointing, we have made significant progress in strengthening our operational foundation, including the migration of our custody operations to BNY Pershing,’ Interim Chair Mark Nelligan said. ‘These investments will place the firm on a stronger footing.’ He added: ‘Whilst the results are not positive, they were not entirely unexpected given the transition we are in. We remain determined to turn things around through several ongoing initiatives. ‘The company has identified a range of cost-cutting measures that are expected to start delivering results in 2026.’ In November, Walker Crips’ independent directors agreed to recommend a cash acquisition by PhillipCapital UK Ltd at 14.0 pence per share, valuing Walker Crips at £5.6 million, a move the company said would provide stability as it continues its restructuring. PhillipCapital UK is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Phillip Brokerage Pte Ltd, a shareholder in Walker Crips which has loaned the company £5 million. It is a member of the wider PhillipCapital Group, based in Singapore. Walker Crips has called a general meeting of shareholders for January 15 to approve the takeover. Shares in Walker Crips were untraded at 13.25p in London on Wednesday morning. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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