– British broker Peel Hunt said on Wednesday it expected full-year earnings to miss analyst views, hurt by deal delays in its investment banking unit and a slowdown in its trading division, sending its shares more than 13% lower in early trade.
The company, which made its market debut in September last year, said investor sentiment has been negatively affected by inflation worries and global geopolitical events, including the latest Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“The backdrop for capital markets activity has been particularly challenging,” the London-listed company said in a statement, as markets are also dealing with lower investor confidence due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Peel Hunt, however, said it still expected to post record full-year revenues in its ‘investment banking’ division, as it continued to see a growth in corporate client numbers.
In December, it had reported interim pretax profit of 29.5 million pounds ($40.14 million) for the six months ended Sept. 28, and had said it was on track to meet its full year outlook.
($1 = 0.7349 pounds)
(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru)