Canaccord Genuity Group (CF) has cut employee bonuses as dealmaking remains limited with stock markets recovering from last year’s global selloff.
The reduced bonuses also come after a move by Canaccord’s management team to take the Toronto-based company private earlier this year failed.
News of the lowered staff compensation comes days after the financial company reported that its net income fell 113% to a loss of -$7.2 million in its most recent quarter.
Canaccord has also said that it is considering ways to boost employee stock ownership as it reduces salaries and bonuses across the company.
Overall, the company’s compensation declined 25% to $936.9 million in its fiscal year ended March 31 of this year, according to disclosure documents.
Total pay in Canaccord’s capital markets division declined 34% and it was down 8.8% in the firm’s wealth management unit.
Deals have been particularly hard to come by in the small- and mid-cap segments that Canaccord serves.
The first three months of this year were the slowest quarter for initial public offerings (IPOs) in Canada since 2016.
Canaccord’s most recent fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $430.4 million was the lowest for that period since 2020, when the pandemic struck. Earnings per share fell 87% from a year earlier.
A group of Canaccord executives had offered this past January to take the company private for $11.25 per share, valuing the firm at $1.1 billion.
The proposal ran into opposition from Canaccord’s board of directors who said it undervalued the company. The offer to take the company private ultimately failed.
Shares of Canaccord Genuity have declined 5% so far in 2023 and are currently trading at $8.01 per share.
