Panmure Gordon suffered £7.2m loss before merger with Liberum

Panmure Gordon continued its loss-making streak in the year before its merger with City rival Liberum in the latest sign of factors influencing consolidation among Britain’s corporate brokers.

The investment bank posted a £7.2m loss for the 12 months ending on 31 December 2023, according to newly-filed accounts.

This compares to a £16.3m loss in 2022, with Panmure Gordon enjoying a 22 per cent rise in dealmaking fees last year. Its revenue came in at £31m for 2023, up from £27.6m in 2022.

Like its peers, Panmure Gordon’s earnings were hit by by a dearth of IPOs and a shrinking number of smaller London-listed companies. This has influenced more cost reduction efforts and consolidation in the sector.

The number of employees at Panmure Gordon fell by 23 to 124 last year. Meanwhile, it spent £23.5m on compensation – down from £29.5m in 2022.

Panmure combined with Liberum in January to form the largest advisor to London-listed companies.

The two firms had 250 UK corporate clients and employed a combined 288 staff across the UK and North America at the time.

The merger came after Deutsche Bank completed a £410m takeover of Numis to form Deutsche Numis last October. Finncap and Cenkos had merged the previous month to create Cavendish.

Ex-Barclays chief Bob Diamond’s Atlas Merchant Capital bought a majority stake in Panmure Gordon in 2018 alongside the Qatari royal family. Diamond hired fellow Barclays veteran Rich Ricci to head up Panmure Gordon in 2020.

The deal to create Panmure Liberum saw Ricci appointed as chief executive of the combined group, with Bidhi Bhoma, Liberum’s head, becoming deputy CEO.

In June, Panmure Liberum cut around 20 jobs. It has also gained some employees after launching private capital and debt advisory units in July and expanding its US business with ex-Numis staff.

Financial News first reported Panmure Gordon’s earnings.