Numis rides out storm with return to black - FT:

Numis has swung back in to the black, reporting rises of more than 41 per cent in stock broking commissions and fees for the six months to March.The UK stockbroker has ridden out the market storm that engulfed rivals such as Seymour Pierce, which was bought out of administration by Cantor Fitzgerald in February. Click here for the full article

Keeping the show on the road - The Times :

If, as I have suggested before, stockbroking is a question of the last man standing, then Numis Corporation is one of the clear survivors. Over the past five years it has increased the number of clients in the FTSE 250 from three to thirty-two, aided by the demise of some of the competition among the medium-sized brokers. It would have been hard not to make money in these markets and halfway profits before tax in the six months to the end of March rose from £2.6 million to £9.2 million. The interim dividend of 4p is covered by earnings for the first time in several years. As a result, its cash pile grew from £35.9 million to £54.8 million over the first half. The company has been expanding its market share and is punching above its weight in the IPO stakes, bringing Crest Nicholson, the housebuilder, esure, the insurer, and more recently HellermannTyton, a cable equipment maker, to the stock market. Numis also has a strong position in the growing retail bond area, bringing four new issues to market in the first half. No one can say with any certainty where the stock market is going and, clearly, any sharp correction would be bad news for Numis, but the fundamentals suggest that equities will remain in demand. Numis shares, up 6p at 154p, are hard to value because of that lack of earnings visibility, but a maintained dividend does give the support of a forward yield of above 5 per cent, a decent enough return.