Collins Stewart finance chief steps down

Collins Stewart, the FTSE250 stockbroker, on Wednesday announced that David Lindsay, its finance director, is stepping down and that it is refocusing its lossmaking capital markets division on mid-cap companies. The moves, which herald major changes at the London City institution, come less than a month after the group appointed Mark Brown to replace Joel Plasco as chief executive. Sources said Collins Stewart is in the process of letting go about 20 members of the capital markets division, including Kripa Radhakrishnan, head of capital markets, and a group of brokers and sales people focused on small-caps. Brown said the cuts amounted to 40% of the resources focused on small-cap companies. The company still has analysts covering Aim companies and has gathered them into one team. Shares in Collins Stewart, which have fallen nearly 80% this year, fell 3p, or 7.5%, to close at 37p.