There was little sign of a let up in the strife in the City today, when investment bank Numis said there is still a dearth of deals in a “deteriorating market”.
Numis has grown from a niche player to one that looks after scores of big clients – though those clients are mostly sitting on their hands just now while markets wobble.
It was bought by Deutsche Bank in April for £410 million in what was seen as a sign of long-term confidence in the London financial market – and perhaps a sign that Numis was not at its strongest.
All investment banks have struggled from a moribund stock market and a lack of new flotations that have starved them off fees.
Today Numis said revenue in the third quarter was “below the first half run-rate” amid “cyclically low deal volumes”.
Deutsche offered 350p a share for Numis. The stock was today at 333p, which has the business valued at £367 million. That takeover is still expected to complete by the end of this year.
Numis, led by co-CEOs Alex Ham and Ross Mitchinson warns that “Market conditions are expected to remain difficult through the remainder” of the year.
There has been drip of job cuts across nearly all City banks with fears that much wider cuts.
Numis, which employs 330 people says fees from mergers have improved on a year ago “notwithstanding that financing markets have become more challenging in recent months”.
It added: “We expect macro-economic concerns to persist and restrict deal volumes across all investment banking products.”
