TP Icap lifted as central banks change tune on rates

Broker TP Icap had the world’s top central bankers Mario Draghi and Janet Yellen to thank for shaking up markets as trading revenues jumped in the first four months of the year.

The inter-dealer broker, which handles big trades between investment banks, said March’s rate rise from the US Federal Reserve, led by Yellen, and a shift in tone from Draghi’s European Central Bank, had helped overall revenues up 11%.

Adjusting for the pound’s post-Brexit fall, trading was ahead 2%.

The Fed’s March move was put on the table in the run-up to the meeting by Yellen and a host of hawkish messages from her rate-setting colleagues.

Draghi’s acknowledgement that the “balance of risks” had improved in the eurozone bolstered the euro.

Political uncertainty such as elections in France also helped.

Chief executive John Phizackerley, leading the group created by the merger of Icap and Tullett Prebon’s traditional broking businesses, said trading had been “resilient” despite mixed conditions.

The firm has also paid £270 million to Rothesay Life to insure pension liabilities.