WH Ireland Group PLC on Wednesday said its loss widened substantially as revenue dropped in its latest financial year.

The stock, however, was up 9.8% at 3.84 pence in London on Wednesday morning, as WH Ireland reports ‘signs of improvement’ in financial markets.

The London-based stockbroker and wealth manager said its pretax loss, for the six months that ended September 30, widened to £3.9 million from £384,000 a year before.

Revenue fell 25% to £10.7 million from £14.3 million. Wealth Management revenue fell to £6.3 million from £7.3 million, while Capital Markets revenue dropped to £4.4 million to £7.0 million.

Additionally, WH Ireland said its pretax loss included £1.7 million in non-recurring restructuring costs.

WH Ireland said assets under management for the Wealth Management division shrunk to £1.8 billion from £2.1 million, while the number of Capital Markets corporate clients slipped to 86 from 90 a year prior.

However, WH Ireland also reported annualised costs savings of £3.8 million, the benefits of which should materialise in and beyond the second half of the current financial year.

The broker added that it achieved underlying monthly profitability in November, having conducted multiple large fundraisings for clients.

Chief Executive Officer Phillip Wale said WH Ireland’s results ‘reflect both the well-documented challenging market backdrop, as well as the impact of the non-recurring costs incurred in streamlining the business after the refinancing in the summer.

‘Market conditions, while remaining challenging, have shown some tentative signs of improvement in both indices and activity levels since November; enabling us to undertake some of our largest fundraisings for many months across both public and private markets,’ he continued.

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