In the second size table, showing brokers whose clients are making the most profit, Cazenove again retains the lead, again reflecting a client list with slightly reduced aggregate profits, down from £7,662.4m last time to £7,265.6m currently. The first nine places remain unchanged, but after Tether & Greenwood at number seven, the figures turn from black to red. Seymour Pierce takes tenth place. KBC Peel Hunt, at number eleven, and Collins Stewart at number twelve, have swapped the last two places in the table.

Our third table, the first of the two 'growth' leagues, shows Brewin Dolphin still at number one though the figure for its clients' average increase in pre-tax profits has fallen by over two-thirds, down from 6.4% last quarter to 2.1% this time. Seymour Pierce is in second place with 0.6%. KBC Peel Hunt has climbed smartly from eighth to third, though its corresponding figure, a positive 13.1% last time round, is -3.6% now. Old Mutual Securities has travelled in the opposite direction, down to eleventh place this quarter from sixth previously.

In the second growth table, where brokers are listed according to average increases in their clients' earnings per share, Brewin Dolphin again heads the list and again shows a reduced percentage, fallen from 7.5% last time to 4.0% this quarter. Seymour Pierce comes in second place in this table too; only these two firms have clients with positive earnings growth. HSBC shows another downwards plunge, from second to seventh position, and Old Mutual Securities is also sharply down from fourth to twelfth. Collins Stewart and KBC Peel Hunt, on the other hand, have climbed from seventh to third and from tenth to fourth places respectively.