Rothschild & Co's H1 sales fall 10% amid weak M&A activity

Rothschild & Co SCA

03/08/2023 17:50

PARIS, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Rothschild & Co  ROTH.PA , the
Paris-listed investment bank being taken private by its owners,
reported on Thursday a 10% fall in first-half sales, driven by a
plunge in dealmaking activity. 
    Sales over the first six months of the year totalled 1.24
billion euros ($1.36 billion), down from 1.38 billion a year
earlier, the company, controlled by the eponymous financial
dynasty, said in a statement. 
    Rothschild's top division, global advisory, was responsible
for the bulk of the decrease, as fees derived from advising on
mergers and acquisitions (M&A) plummeted by 30% in the first
half. 
    Rothschild said its first-half net income, group share,
nearly halved from a year earlier to 128 million euros. 
    Global M&A activity fell 40% year-on-year over the first six
months of the year, according to Dealogic, although investment
bankers and lawyers have expressed optimism that the stock
market's recovery will gradually restore confidence in
dealmaking.
    In a call with reporters, Managing Partner Francois Perol
confirmed the investment bank expected net income to more than
halve this year due to the sharp fall in dealmaking. 
    He said the consortium that seeks to take the company
private already owned more than 80% of the shares following the
buyout offer valuing Rothschild at 3.7 billion euros. 
    Concordia, the bank's controlling shareholder and holding
company of the Rothschild family, was joined by three of
France's wealthiest families in the take-private transaction.
     The consortium has until Sept. 8 to reach the 90% ownership
threshold beyond which it can ask for a squeeze-out of remaining
minority shareholders. 


($1 = 0.9131 euros)

 (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((Mathieu.Rosemain@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 8098 1239; Reuters
Messaging: mathieu.rosemain.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MathieuRosemain))