Yes, the trading update provided at the end of January made no mention of the non-operating investment loss, which varies from one half to the next; so pretty understated guidance.
Separately, I was impressed by the improvement in Brokerage revenue in the half, up 12% on JH2023 and up 26% on DH2022. I'm sure the volume of market trading has not improved by anywhere near those levels, so it looks like they are taking market share in a meaningful way (from someone).
Also, they generated almost zero revenue from Corporate Advisory (a figure which for the previous 3 years was $12.4m, $5.7m and $11.1m, respectively) and Underwriting/Placement revenue was a record low of $12.8m (cf. to previous half-years of $22.7m, $16m, $22.3m, $21.3m, $27.7m and $24m).
And to think that even with those bombed out Revenue elements, they still managed to register normalised PBT of $4.6m.
When the cycle turns favourable again, the business will generate EBIT of $25m....compared to an EV of just $47m.
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EZL Price at posting:
84.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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