Broker TP ICAP hikes dividend after beating profit forecasts

(Reuters) -TP ICAP (LON:), the world’s biggest interdealer broker, raised its dividend by 30% on Tuesday after its annual profit beat market expectations, and said it expects trading volumes to remain robust in 2023.

Trading platforms such as TP ICAP, which match buyers and sellers in the financial, energy and commodity markets, benefit from volatility, such as in the U.S. Treasury markets in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.

TP ICAP did not comment on the volatility triggered by the sudden demises of SVB and Signature Bank (NASDAQ:) in its annual results statement.

Startup-focused lender SVB became the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis last week, sending shockwaves across global markets as billions of dollars belonging to companies and investors were left stranded.

The ICE (NYSE:) BoFA MOVE Index – one measure of expected volatility in U.S. Treasuries surged past its COVID-era high and now stands around levels last seen in the financial crisis.

TP ICAP said trading volumes would be strong this year but moderated from the highs seen at the beginning of Ukraine war.

The company, announced a total dividend of 12.4 pence per share, up from 9.5 pence last year, and also saw sales at its largest and most profitable rates business rising by 11% on reported currency for the year ended Dec. 31.

TP ICAP’s rates business, which trades in interest rates, benefited from volatility driven by monetary tightening and a slowdown in the economic growth,

The London-listed firm reported full-year pretax profit of 113 million pounds ($137.4 million), compared with a profit of 24 million pounds last year.

Analysts had expected pretax profit of 108 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus.

($1 = 0.8224 pounds)