Shore Capital doubles first-half profit

British boutique investment bank Shore Capital posted a more than two-fold rise in first-half adjusted pretax profit, boosted by strong performance at its asset management and equity capital markets units.

Shore Capital said it remained cautious of the investment climate for the rest of 2010. The company maintained an interim dividend of 0.25 pence per share.

Januray-June adjusted pretax profit was £4.7 million, up 106.6% from £2.3 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 23.3 percent to £18.3 million.
Funds under management at June-end fell to £1.28 billion from £1.33 billion at December end due to a drop in the value of the euro assets of German real estate investor Puma Brandenburg against sterling.