Close Brothers shares had been trading at their highest level to date, well ahead of their peak before the financial crisis, before slipping 52p to £16.10 after some respectable enough halfway figures. The comparison is not necessarily a fair one, because the pre-crash Close was a different business and recent growth has been based on the well-timed decision to build up its bank lending to SMEs just as other sources of such finance were drying up.
Nonetheless, there are some signs that growth is tapering off. The first half is the quieter one for lending, but a 3.2 per cent rise in the loan book compares with 4.5 per cent last time, while the level of bad debt, barely visible, will not improve further.
Inevitably,