Arden Partners' interim loss widens on pipeline slowdown

Institutional stockbroker Arden Partners reported said its interim loss widened on the back of slow delivery of its corporate pipeline.

In the six months to 30 April, the London-listed group posted a pre-tax loss of £1.2m, more than double the £0.47m it recorded in the corresponding period in 2014, while revenue declined 22% year-on-year to £2.7m.

Arden attributed the widening loss and the decline in revenue to a slowdown in corporate transactions, driven by market uncertainty generated by the UK’s General Election in May.

"We are encouraged by revenues booked to date in the second half and by the current levels of trading, particularly in the corporate division,” said group chief executive James Reed-Daunter.

"The mix and depth of mandated transactions on which we are now focussed, is in part reflective of our recruitment activities over the last 12 months and of the recent restructuring of our corporate finance area."

Arden shares were down 5.95% to 39.50p at 1251 BST on Thursday.