Trading booms at US broker
Article Date: Sep 28 2000US stockbroker Weatherly International has announced interim pre-tax profits of $500,000 (£339,000) on turnover of $3.2 million. But chief executive John Matthews admits the company's first figures since its May listing on Aim do not illustrate what has really been happening, writes William Davidson.
There are effectively no comparable figures for the period to 30 June, but Matthews says that the results for the trading subsidiary Weatherly Securities Inc. show turnover and profits both trebling.
One of the main reasons for Weatherly's listing in London is to get round a rather arcane US rule whereby a brokerage cannot make a market in its own shares. This means that it is left to rely on its competitors to establish a price for Weatherly shares.
Weatherly currently has three market makers active in its stock in the UK, and is hoping to raise its profile further, hence the listing. These efforts will be bolstered by the arrival of Barry Hyman, a highly regarded media analyst who appears regularly on US financial news programmes.
Matthews, a fast-talking Wall Street trader, admits that part of his visit to the London is to promote a media and entertainment company that Weatherly is hoping to bring to the US market in the near future. But there have also been deals in the last five months.
This period has seen the acquisition of Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum, a US brokerage, and the formation of Weatherly Remco Asset Management, a fund management business. This latter arm will be headed by John Redican, a veteran of the fund management world with 35 years experience.
Matthews has typically strong views on the impending European invasion by Nasdaq. He believes that Nasdaq boss Frank Zarb will propose a more attractive deal to the London Stock Exchange than will any of the other US predators, such as Instinet.
Matthews also added that the search for a UK securities company to acquire is ongoing, having already 'reviewed a number of initiatives'. Weatherly's shares, meanwhile, are trading at 7.75p, against a year's high of 10p.
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