FinnCap cancels second interim dividend, expects deals to be delayed

Small-cap stockbroker FinnCap pulled its second interim dividend for the past year on Wednesday, citing delays and cancellations to "a number of deals" expected in the coming months.

FinnCap cut the dividend payment to help it cut costs by as much as a third in order to better weather the oncoming Covid-19 induced storm.

In addition to cancelling its dividend, FinnCap's executive directors will sacrifice 44-93% of their salaries and non-executives 100% of their fees over the next three months, while a number of staff were also furloughed or sacrificing a portion of their salary. All discretionary expenditure was also cancelled.

Although FinnCap stated that its pipeline of M&A deals for the current quarter still looked "strong", the AIM-listed group warned that it anticipated seeing "a number of deals pulled or delayed".

FinnCap added that its equity capital markets division continued to complete transactions, including three equity fundraises, after moving all of its employees to remote working.

"The trading environment has never been more uncertain," said FinnCap.

"However, with a strong balance sheet strengthened by the actions that we have taken, we believe that we are well placed to weather the storm and to continue to service our clients to the highest standard."

As of 1340 BST, FinnCap shares were down 2.86% at 17p.