The Financial Times is reporting that Société Générale's Internet broker Fimatex is closing its UK and Spanish operations, in a bid to break even later this year.
According to the FT report, the broker, which has been named as a possible bidder for struggling German rival Consors, says its UK and Spanish operations lost EUR13 million in the first six months of 2001 - equating to half of Fimatex's total losses for the period.
The paper quotes Vincent Taupin, Fimatex chairman, as saying the two European operations "came in below our expectations", attracting 2000 UK customers and less than 1000 Spanish clients.
Fimatex is planning to focus on its key markets of Germany and France where it has 106,400 accounts - mostly in France, writes the Financial Times.