By Yamini Kalia
(Reuters) -British inter-dealer broker TP ICAP reported better-than-expected half-year pre-tax profit on Wednesday and said it was considering a U.S. listing for its data and analytics business, sending shares to a more than three-year high.
The world’s biggest inter-dealer broker reported a 10% rise in pre-tax profit, just beating market expectations, boosted by a strong performance in its energy and commodities (E&C) segment and cost controls.
The company, which has been exploring options including an initial public offer for its Parameta Solutions business, said a U.S. listing was also being considered.
Shares in the company rose 13% in early trade to their highest level since May 2021.
An increasing number of UK companies are moving away from London listings in favour of U.S. markets, where valuations can be higher.
“Data analytics businesses are better understood by the U.S. market,” said Shore Capital analyst Vivek Raja.
TP ICAP will be better set for a growth valuation in the U.S. with its “more vibrant tech enabled growth story and appetite to pay more for than the UK,” Raja added.
The E&C division’s revenue grew 8% to 244 million pounds ($310.05 million) while Global Broking, which accounts for about 57% of its total revenue, recorded flat growth.
“Ongoing geopolitical uncertainty should continue to drive volatility that is supportive for global broking and energy & commodities, while the prospect of some interest rate reductions should be positive for Liquidnet,” the company said, referring to its multi-asset division.
The company also disclosed in an e-mail to Reuters that some of its trading platforms were affected by the global cyber outage caused by a tech failure at Crowdstrike.
Adjusted profit before tax for the six months ended June 30 grew to 160 million pounds from 146 million pounds.
Analysts expected the company to log 156 million pounds, according to company complied estimates.
($1 = 0.7870 pounds)
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sharon Singleton)
