George, the following article from Saturday's Financial Post pretty well confirms your analysis. On one hand, many of OLV's clients are VSE players and that market simply hasn't had the volume to generate the commissions. On the capital markets front, very few companies even bothered to try to raise capital untilt the memory of Bre-X fades somewhat.
Saturday, August 30, 1997
Lower trading volumes hit C.M. Oliver's first quarter
By SUSANNE CRAIG
Securities Industry Reporter The Financial Post
Lower trading volumes took a toll on investment dealer C.M. Oliver Inc. in the first quarter.
The Vancouver-based company reported a loss of $612,000 (3« a share) for the three months ended June 30, compared with a profit of $2.6 million (15«) in the same period last year. Revenue was also down, falling 31.4% to $16.6 million from $24.2 million.
The company blamed the drop in both revenue and net income on lower trading volumes in its retail and capital markets division. "This drop is reflective of the kind of business we concentrate on, particularly mining, a sector that wasn't as active last quarter as it was this time last year," said David Cortens, C.M. Oliver's chief financial officer. Operating costs for the three months ended June 30 were $7.2 million, up $900,000 from the same quarter last year. C.M. Oliver said the higher costs took into account spending to expand branch operations, acquire key personnel and close the capital markets operation in Britain.
At June 30, C.M. Oliver's book value per share was $1.11, compared with $1.03 a year earlier.
C.M. Oliver shares (OLV/TSE) closed Friday at $1.30, down 3« (sic, it was down $0.03). |
