Trading conditions encouraging, says Arden Partners

STOCKBROKER Arden Partners has reported that trading in the six month period to the end of April has been better than expected.

The firm, which has a major operation in Birmingham, says both revenues and profitability are ahead of budget.

Since the year end Arden Partners – which provides stockbroking services for institutions – has increased the number of brokerships to 34 and this number is expected to grow in the medium term. The average market capitalisation of its clients is now £195m.

The pipeline for the second half of the year is encouraging, the firm says, but deliverability will depend on market conditions and continued uncertainty in Europe, both in political and economic terms.

The firm’s board says it intends to return to the dividend list from the interim period.

It said that since the financial crisis of 2008 the board has tightly controlled and managed the balance sheet, which has strengthened since that time and has reached a level which now allows management flexibility in decision making.