The Terence Chapman Group has issued a depressed set of results for the year-ending August 2001 and warned investors that it sees no immediate upturn in its fortunes.
The London-based financial technology consultancy is reporting group turn-over up to £32 million from £30.9 million in 2000 and a pre-tax profit of £8.1 million. This latter figure includes a one-off gain of £10.9 million against the disposal of broking solutions firm TCA Synergo. Operating profit for the full year, excluding a £2 million restructuring charge, was only £0.2m (2000: £3.7m).
Sir Colin Southgate, chairman issued a downbeat assessment of the company's near-term prospects: "Market conditions remain very difficult and we do not foresee a short-term upturn in prospects. It is not possible to forecast when market conditions will improve but management's immediate objective is to bring the company to break even."
TCA founder Terry Chapman recently stepped down as chief executive to make way for new broom Andrew Jurczynski. His departure followed a dismal second-half performance from the group, which has struggled to cope with the economic downturn and cost-cutting among its core investment banking clientele.