Yes, the trading update provided at the end of January made no...

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.

.