ROTHSCHILD & CO PARIS (Reuters) - Financial services group Rothschild & Co (>> ROTHSCHILD & CO), whose roots lie in the banking dynasty formed by Mayer Amschel Rothschild more than 200 years ago, reported a drop in interim profits and warned of tough market conditions.
Rothschild & Co, whose businesses include advising on takeover deals, wealth management and merchant banking, said pre-tax profits had fallen 28 percent from a year ago to 125 million euros (£88 million) in the six months to the end of September.
This partly reflected a rise in staff costs and expenses, which offset higher revenues, as Rothschild hired more staff over the course of the year, including more junior bankers.
"The group had satisfactory results in the first half year of 2015/2016, capitalising on the depth of its market positions," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
"However, some of our businesses are volatile and dependent on market conditions, which have recently become more challenging due to macro uncertainties," it added.
The heightened global economic uncertainty was highlighted on Tuesday by a drop in world stock markets after Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. [MKTS/GLOB]
The company's revenues were boosted by a pick-up in advisory work on large takeover deals.
Rothschild said it remained the market leader in European mergers and acquisition (M&A) advisory work, where transactions on which it had worked included the merger to form new construction company LafargeHolcim (>> Lafargeholcim Ltd).
The Rothschild banking dynasty rose to prominence in the 19th century with deals including helping finance the British government's acquisition of a stake in the Suez Canal.
($1 = 0.9388 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Keith Weir)
