Peel Hunt: Bonuses scrapped for third year running
Peel Hunt has scrapped bonuses for its top executives for a third year running as losses at the investment bank continued.
Chief executive Steven Fine took home a pay packet of £465,000 for the year to 31 March, 2025, while chief financial and operating officer Sunil Dhall received £316,000, according to its latest annual report.
No annual bonus was paid out for a third consecutive year to either executive after Peel Hunt also reported a pre-tax loss for the third financial year running.
The last time Fine received an annual bonus was the £1m he was handed for the year to 31 March, 2022. At the same time, Dhall received a bonus of £450,000.
Dhall will step down from the board and left Peel Hunt on 3 July.
Losses continue at Peel Hunt
Peel Hunt’s annual report comes after the investment bank reported a pre-tax loss of £3.4m for the year to 31 March, 2025.
The loss came off the back of the firm also posting a deficit of £3.2m in the prior 12 months.
Peel Hunt also made a pre-tax loss of £1.4m in the year ending March 2023. It last reported a pre-tax profit in the 12 months before that – a total of £33.1m.
However, over the same time its revenue ticked up from £85.8m to £91.3m.
On its latest loss, Peel Hunt said the total was due to restructuring costs and that it recorded a profit of £800m on an adjusted basis.
Execs agree to not receive bonuses
In its annual report, remuneration committee chair Maria Bentley said: “The group delivered revenue of £91.3m for FY25, an increase of 6.4 per cent compared with FY24, despite a continued challenging macroeconomic climate that has weighed on market volumes and corporate activity.
“We have continued to take action to manage our cost base and have reported an overall loss of £3.5m (FY24: £(3.3)m).
“Whilst financial and strategic progress was made during the year, given the group has reported a loss, the executive directors agreed that they should not be eligible for a bonus or share award.”
‘A big slap around the face with a wet haddock’
Speaking to Morning Wire, chief executive Steven Fine said: “The last couple of months were just a big slap around the face with a wet haddock.
“I don’t think anyone saw that coming and I think markets literally just stopped.
“So rather than striding towards our year end, we sort of limped over there, which was a shame given the dramatic change in the business and everything we’ve got going on here.”
The broker took a 46.2 per cent hit to cash reserves, shrinking to £20.4m, whilst net assets tumbled 3.4 per cent to £88.7m.
Staff costs jumped 9.6 per cent to £55m, while total administration costs rose 6.6 per cent to £94m.
Earlier this week, Peel Hunt said it had “reduced staff costs during the year through headcount reductions to support the business in moving towards profitability throughout the cycle”. Average headcount decreased 3.6 per cent year-on-year.
Speaking to Morning Wire after Peel Hunt’s results were announced, Fine added that London markets are being held back by a “domestic lack of self esteem”.
The CEO said the UK believes it is in “a lot worse shape than the rest of the world does,” which has led to a cheapening of assets.
He added: “All this sort of downturn started at the end of 2021… it was gas prices, then it was inflation, then it was Truss, and it was everything else that went with it.”