TP ICAP, the world‘s biggest inter-deal broker, published its annual financials for 2021, reporting more than 81 percent drop in its profits for the 12 months. It generated £24 million as pre-tax profits last year compared to 2020’s £129 million.
Additionally, the basic earnings per share of the company plunged to 0.7 pence from 15.4 pence in the prior year.
“Our performance naturally reflects the unusually quiet secondary markets that we experienced in 2021, particularly in the first half of the year. However, as market conditions started to improve in the second half, TP ICAP recovered most of the ground and grew overall market share,” said Nicolas Breteau, the CEO of TP ICAP.
Indeed, the revenue of the company showed resilience and came in at £1.86 billion, which is slightly higher than the previous years £1.79 billion. But, Liquidnet turned out to be a successful bet for the company as it brought in £159 million in revenue post-acquisition.
Without adding Liquidnet‘s numbers, TP ICAP’s annual revenue lowered by 1 percent in 2021, which is in line with the guidance provided by the company earlier.
Now, the group is focused on diversifying its revenue stream, bringing 42 percent of its total revenue from non-global broking businesses. Meanwhile, the global broking business of the group declined by 2 percent.
Data and analytics business within Parameta Solutions, which generates a high margin, grew by 10 percent last year.
Cautious on the Outlook
TP ICAP already saw 16 percent in revenue growth until March 11, when compared to the same period of the previous year. In addition, the figure is 4 percent higher without business from Liquidnet.
But, the company is cautious of the market conditions and did not put down any absolute number or range, saying “predicting future market activity is difficult.”
“Market volatility has continued at more elevated levels in 2022, with the return of inflation and geopolitical uncertainty driving higher volumes across many of our markets,” Breteau added.
“While it is too early to judge whether this activity will be sustained, we believe the results of our many actions will show through in improved performance across the group in 2022 and beyond.”
