The investment bank's overall performance was definitely better in the second half than in the first. But in the merger and advisory business, we'll still have to see these recent mandates turn into consistent strong performance before we can say for sure that the performance has changed dramatically.

They look like a strong set of results. One pleasing aspect is to see revenue growth steadily accelerating in the second half.

I don't see too many big surprises in there so far. It is interesting that they are continuing to expand outside the UK, that seems to be their main area of focus.