Davy, the Republic’s largest stockbroking and wealth management company, has opened redundancy programmes in its capital markets businesses in the UK and Ireland, with as many as 18 staff expected to exit the business, according to sources.
The move comes amid an ongoing downturn in capital markets activity — including fundraisings, initial public offerings (IPOs) and other types of deals — against a backdrop of concerns about the global economy and interest rates, as well an expected slump in trading in Irish equities as some of the largest companies on Euronext Dublin prepare to quit the market.
The brokerage, which briefed staff on Friday on its plans, is understood to be seeking a high-single-digit number of voluntary redundancies in its institutional equities team in Dublin. It is also believed to be looking seeking a similar level of redundancies in London, where it has 23 employees, as it focuses on public markets activity and moves out of areas such as private debt and equity raisings.
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Davy, which was acquired by Bank of Ireland in June last year, has close to 900 staff, about 120 of whom work in the capital markets division. The brokerage has been adding positions since the takeover in areas such as wealth management, its Davy Horizons sustainability consultancy, and building up a small bonds team, after its previous bonds desk was disbanded in 2021 after controversy over a 2014 bond trade that resulted in a Central Bank fine.
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“In response to the ongoing lower level of activity in capital markets globally, Davy Capital Markets is seeking to implement a small number of potential redundancies in its London office. Additionally, a voluntary redundancy programme has been opened for its Dublin-based institutional team,” said a company spokesman.
“Davy remains committed to its capital markets business in both Dublin and London and post these measures, overall employment levels at Davy will remain higher than at any point its history, reflecting the strength of its core business and new areas of investment targeting growth.”
Dublin listings
The Irish stock market’s largest publicly quoted company CRH is set to cancel its Dublin listing at the end of this month, as part of a wider listings rejig that will see it move its primary quotation from London to New York. Flutter Entertainment is also widely expected to take a similar route in the near term, having decided earlier this year to take out a secondary listing in the US.
Meanwhile, Smurfit Kappa revealed this week that it plans to quit the Irish market if it presses ahead with a merger with US-based rival WestRock.
The three companies are among the most actively traded in Dublin and their combined €74 billion market value equates to almost half of the entire market capitalisation of the 20 top companies on the Iseq.
