Co-leading Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.'s $1.35-billion initial public offering sent GMP Capital Inc.'s investment banking revenue fees soaring in the first half of 2010. Total banking revenue from January to June reached $123.6-million, doubling 2009's number. Of that, $68.1-million came from underwriting fees in the second quarter, which is why GMP sat at the top of the equity underwriting league tables at the end of June.
Overall, GMP turned a $22.5-million profit in the second quarter, a big improvement over the January to March period in which it posted a net loss of $62.4-million off goodwill write downs related to its acquisition of EdgeStone.
The second quarter numbers came in higher than Canaccord Financial's $4.9-million quarterly profit announced on Thursday. Though, Canaccord was affected by $11-million in acquisition costs. Accounting for those, earnings were just shy of $14-million.
But just like Canaccord, GMP lost money in its wealth management segment - about $1.6-million from operations.
Sales and trading commissions also fell by $2.7-million to just under $18-million in the second quarter. However, GMP ranked third in TSX block trading with a 9.2 per cent market share.
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Tim Kiladze