TP ICAP plc (LON: TCAP), a major London-based interdealer broker, has published the trading update for the first half of 2021 today. The company reported a slide in its overall revenue mostly due to the after-effects of Covid-19 on the global economy.
According to the official figures, the overall revenue of the company in the past six months came in at £936 million. This figure is 1 percent lower than last year on a constant currency basis and declined 5 percent on a reported basis.
In a statement, TP ICAP CEO Nicolas Breteau pointed out that the revenue figure reflects challenging trading conditions ‘caused by the combination of very quiet secondary markets and the ongoing disruption from COVID-19’.
Earlier, TP ICAP reported a significant 9 percent dip (on a constant currency basis) in its revenue in the first quarter of the ongoing year.
Liquidnet Figures Added
In addition, the figures for the second quarter remained significant as the interdealer broker completed the acquisition of Liquidnet in late March and consolidated the revenue figures. Q2 became the first full quarter considering Liquidnet’s revenue.
TP ICAP reports its revenues in four divisions: global broking, energy & commodities, agency executions (which include Liquidnet), and Parameta Solutions that include data and analytics and post-trade services. Though the revenue from the first two units contracted by 7 percent and 9 percent, respectively, the other two gained by 84 percent and 6 percent.
Liquidnet, which is a dark pool operator, generated £55 million in the last six months. Without accounting for this number, the overall revenue of TP ICAP declined by 7 percent on a constant currency basis.
Given the market conditions and trends in trading, the company is now expecting to close the year with overall revenue, excluding Liquidnet, to be broadly in line with 2020.
“In terms of corporate development, this has been a busy and successful period.” Breteau added, “We have continued to execute our organic strategy to electronify our business to improve margins over time, connect clients with Liquidity more efficiently and diversify our revenue mix. In addition, we have continued to innovate, going live with a new fully automated Spot FX matching platform and announcing the launch of a pioneering wholesale Trading Platform for spot crypto-assets.”
