Walker Crips sees losses widen significantly ahead of takeover

The London-listed group reported a £7 million pre-tax loss for the six months to September 30 against losses of £1.5 million a year ago.

Struggling wealth management firm Walker Crips has revealed losses more than quadrupled after a ‘difficult’ first half ahead of its takeover by a Singapore rival (PA) (PA Archive)

Struggling wealth management firm Walker Crips has revealed losses more than quadrupled after a “difficult” first half ahead of its takeover by a Singapore rival.

The London-listed group reported a £7 million pre-tax loss for the six months to September 30 against losses of £1.5 million a year ago, blaming “internal challenges and broader economic uncertainty” for its poor performance.

It was hit by a £4.4 million goodwill write-down, although revenues also dropped 7.3% to £14.6 million.

The results follow just a month after it agreed to a £5.6 million takeover by Singapore-based PhillipCapital, which already owns around 29% of Walker Crips.

The 14p-a-share bid from PhillipCapital comes after the bidder gave Walker Crips a £5 million emergency loan in July.

Mark Nelligan, interim chairman of Walker Crips, said: “Given the ongoing internal challenges and broader economic uncertainty, this has been another difficult period for the Walker Crips Group.

“It is with that backdrop that the independent directors of Walker Crips Group recommended the acquisition of the group by PhillipCapital on November 24.”

Walker Crips said the weaker performance was also driven by higher costs linked to regulatory enhancements and the migration of custody, trading and settlement operations at its investment management arm to BNY Pershing.

The operational transition required “significant staff and management focus, which affected the ability to execute on growth initiatives, thereby affecting expected revenues in the period,” according to the firm.

Mr Nelligan added: “Whilst the results are not positive, they were not entirely unexpected given the transition we are in.

“We remain determined to turn things around through several ongoing initiatives, including strengthened cost management efforts, comprehensive tariff reviews, new structured products initiatives, including a structured product fund, and continuous process improvements.

“The company has identified a range of cost-cutting measures that are expected to start delivering results in 2026.”