Peel Hunt Reports £3.5m Annual Loss amid Market Challenges

Peel Hunt, a UK investment bank, reported a widened pretax loss of £3.5 million for the financial year ending March 31, 2025, primarily due to exceptional restructuring costs and increased staff expenses. Despite the loss, the bank's revenue rose by 6% to £91.3 million amid challenging market conditions characterized by low levels of equity capital market activity, geopolitical risks, US trade tariffs, and a decline in IPOs on the London Stock Exchange. Peel Hunt acted on two major IPOs during the year, including Raspberry Pi Holdings' UK Main Market IPO and AOTI Inc's AIM Market IPO, and achieved milestones such as advising on the most successful European IPO of the year and their largest M&A transaction to date. CEO Steven Fine highlighted a more positive start to the new financial year, citing US-UK trade deals under President Trump's administration, Bank of England rate cuts, and a strong M&A pipeline as drivers of improved market sentiment. The firm has been restructuring to reduce costs and shift towards a more junior investment banking team, while maintaining a diversified client base that includes FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. Analysts express cautious optimism that Peel Hunt will recover strongly when market conditions stabilize, noting the rotation of assets from the US to Europe and increased institutional interest in the UK.