Tullett staff decide to stay
INTER-dealer broker Tullett Prebon expects fewer of its London brokers to move to other tax regimes than anticipated, after it decided late last year to facilitate relocations for staff wanting to avoid the new 50 per cent top rate of income tax.
Chief executive Terry Smith said more stringent rules from HM Revenue & Customs, which has tightened up its policy on overseas workers travelling back to the UK for business trips or to see family, had led to concerns about an inability to sever ties with the country.
Tullett saw profits creep up by a percentage point last year, dampened by comparisons with highly volatile trading in the prior year period following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Tullett’s adjusted pre-tax profit was £157m for 2009, on revenues which remained flat at £947.7m. Smith said the performance was strong in light of the acute market volatility in 2008, and predicted a further sales boost this year.
“I believe there is every likelihood of another crisis causing extreme volatility in the market,” he said. “The sovereign debt issue is clearly beginning to cause enormous stresses out there.”