LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Merchant banking group Close Brothers said on Thursday that it had delivered "a strong performance" in the first quarter, reflecting high levels of new business volumes in its lending businesses.
Close Brothers said its banking loan book increased 5.6% to £8.0bn as a result of high levels of customer activity, while its asset management division generated annualised net inflows of 7% despite the impact of reduced face-to-face interaction with clients since the onset of Covid-19.

The FTSE 250-listed firm added that its Winterflood subsidiary continued to benefit from high levels of market activity, with average daily bargains remaining elevated at 83,000, although below the level seen in the second half of the 2020 financial year at 108,000, and no loss days in the quarter.

While Close said the division was "well-positioned" to continue trading profitably in a range of conditions, due to the nature of the business, the group added that it remained "sensitive" to changes in the market environment.

Looking forward, Close Brothers cautioned that with Covid-19, additional restrictions in the UK, Brexit and the end of government support schemes impacting loan book growth, the company's credit performance was still "highly uncertain".

Chief executive Adrian Sainsbury said: "The group has performed well in the first quarter, with strong new business volumes in banking, reflecting increased customer activity, continued net inflows in the asset management division and elevated trading volumes in Winterflood.

"Although the external environment remains highly uncertain, we continued to adapt well to these challenging and rapidly changing conditions."

As of 0835 GMT, Close Brothers shares were up 0.44% at 1,382.0p.

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