Time to buy Durlatcher

15.12.03 :+3.5, (131) at the AGM Chief Executive Christopher Stainforth said: "The radical restructuring of Durlacher is now largely completed. We now operate principally in the UK equity markets and I am pleased to report that we have made a positive start to the new financial year.

There has been a notable improvement in market sentiment and a general upturn in trading and corporate activity. We now have 32 corporate clients and are in discussions regarding a further ten mandates. We have been involved in IPO and merger and acquisition activity, one of the most recent being as Adviser and Broker to Straight plc where we led an IPO. In the equity division we have added three new analysts, Nick Ward covering media, Sanjay Jha covering technology and Martin Potts on the mining sector. We have also hired Andrew Sutcliffe as Director of Sales who will be reporting to David Banks, head of equity sales.

I am pleased to report a healthy pipeline of corporate finance business and we continue to seek recruitment of high-quality personnel. We continue to be growth-focused and are seeking opportunities to further strengthen the business, principally organically but also, where the right opportunity arises, through acquisition.

The Board continues to assess opportunities to integrate a mid-sized fund management business which we believe will strengthen our overall institutional offering. We believe we are well positioned in the economic cycle. Positive sentiment continues to return to the equity markets, particularly in the small to mid cap sectors where market recovery is most noticeable. The FTSE 100 has stabilized, sentiment is strong in the US and the outlook for global interest rates appears to be good. The combination of the radical cost restructuring programme and the uplift in activity in our core market place provides the Board with confidence for the future."

At the Annual General Meeting of Durlacher Corporation plc held earlier today, all of the resolutions put to the meeting were duly passed. All of the directors seeking re-appointment were re-elected.