Walker Crips Group PLC said ‘challenging times’ in financial markets sent the London stock broker to a half-year loss, and the second half of the year is expected to be equally difficult, it said on Friday.

‘It is with a heavy heart that I have to report the challenging times that we have been experiencing,’ said Chair Martin Wright.

The London-based stockbroker and asset manager swung to a pretax loss of £1.5 million in the six months that ended September 30 from the prior year’s £268,000 profit, despite revenue increasing 2.3% to £15.8 million from £15.5 million.

Assets under management were £2.7 billion on September 30, unchanged from March 31, but assets under management and administration were down 4.1% to £4.7 billion from £4.9 billion.

Walker Crips declared no interim dividend, compared to 0.25 pence per share a year before, due the weak results and the company’s ‘capital and liquidity requirements’.

Wright said the half-year ‘has been a difficult period’, noting that conditions ‘were marked by considerable market volatility, driven by a challenging blend of high interest rates, global conflicts and political instability and, of course, a change of government in the UK.

‘In the current environment, investor confidence has also been mixed due to economic pressures and central bank policy changes,’ the chair said.

Looking ahead, Walker Crips expects the second half to be ‘as challenging’ as the first, but Wright said the company has ‘made significant progress’ in addressing its issues and that he is confident it can ‘navigate these challenges’.

In a significant move to save costs during the recent half-year, Walker Crips outsourced a large part of its back-office operations to global custodian firm BNY Pershing. The transition will take effect this coming March.

Walker Crips shares were down 2.8% to 17.50 pence midday Friday in London.

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