Broking group TP ICAP enjoyed growth in their FX & Money Markets and Energy & Commodities in the first half of 2023 as revenue on a statutory basis increased to £1,132m from £1,080m in the same period a year ago.
TP ICAP is becoming an increasingly digital business and is focusing on its electronic trading platforms in the face of falling cash equity revenue. Cash equity revenues sank 22% in the first half.
Energy & Commodities revenue was up 12% while FX & Money Markets gained single digits.
TP ICAP Group shares were 15% higher at the time of writing as the release of strong first-half operational performance was accompanied by a £30m share buyback and a 7% dividend increase.
Nicolas Breteau, CEO of TP ICAP Group, commented:
“Our focus on productivity, contribution, and tight cost management, generated an uplift in profit and EBIT margin. Energy & Commodities delivered a strong performance, as energy markets normalised. Overall, Group revenue increased by 1%, following a strong performance last year, when the revenue base was up 7% (excluding the Liquidnet acquisition).”
“Our transformation, and diversification, initiatives are going well. The rollout of Fusion, our award-winning electronic platform, is on track, with an increasing focus on client adoption. Liquidnet now has two major banks connected to the Dealer-to-Client Credit proposition, with a third in the final stages. Parameta Solutions has launched energy-related indices, in partnership with General Index, a leader in this sector. Energy & Commodities is growing in Environmentals; there are more opportunities in the provision of energy-related data to Parameta Solutions, and voluntary and mandatory carbon credits.
“Dynamic capital management is a key element of our strategy. The £100m of cash we targeted in the first half last year has been freed up 6 months ahead of schedule; it will be used to pay down debt. We are also announcing, starting today, a share buyback programme of £30m, and will continue to assess opportunities to free up cash to further invest in the business, pay down more debt, and/or return more capital to shareholders. An interim dividend of 4.8 pence per share, up 7%, will be paid to shareholders on 3 November 2023.”