ICAP in rude health after record profit

THE world’s leading inter-dealer broker ICAP enjoyed record profits in 2008, it said yesterday, netting chief executive Michael Spencer £23.5m on his holding in the company.

Pre-tax profit was up two per cent on the previous year, rising from £330m to £346m excluding one-off items, on the back of soaring revenues, which were up 23 per cent to £1.6bn.

The company also raised its full year dividend by nine per cent to 17.05p a share, helping Spencer to a £23.5m windfall on his 138m shares, £2m more than he earned from last year’s dividend.

Spencer said: “These are resilient results against the backdrop of the most extraordinary financial upheavals experienced across the globe during the past 12 months.”

“We have consolidated our position as the leading global intermediary in the wholesale over-the-counter (OTC) markets by a clear margin,” he added.

The company estimates that its marketplace has grown in worth by three per cent to around £8.1bn, of which ICAP occupies between 21 and 23 per cent.

ICAP’s stellar performance was helped by acquisitions and a £44m investment in new businesses, but Spencer hinted at further purchases, saying that the company was “well positioned to take advantage of the significant restructuring of the financial services industry”.

ICAP, alongside 11 banks, is part of a consortium putting together a bid of around &1119;839m (£738m) for the clearing house LCH.Clearnet, a move that would give it part control of the leading clearer of over-the-counter derivatives.