Grossart attacks 'doomsters' in year-end results statement

Published on Thursday 18 March 2010 20:16

EDINBURGH financier Sir Angus Grossart has criticised the "noisy clamour of doomsters" over the collapse of the financial sector and prospects for the economy.

In his statement accompanying Noble Grossart's year-end results, the chairman took an opportunity to contrast the boutique investment bank's achievements with the comments and predictions of commentators.

Describing a 10.1 million profit before tax, against 5.5m last year, as a "satisfactory result", Grossart said the greater achievement of the company was further strengthening the bank's balance sheet, which showed "massive" liquidity and "very strong" assets.

But despite those achievements "it is not time for anyone to crow," he said. "In any event, it might not be heard above the noisy clamour of doomsters about the future, or revisionists of the recent past."

He said: "Everyone assumed the mantle of retrospective omniscience in explaining the financial collapse and the recession.

"Seldom can so many people from so many backgrounds have been so sure and so clear after the event what really went wrong and what were the causes. Find the culprit, or find many culprits, is the cry. It is played out on varying agendas of reactive blame, in the familiar spirit of rounding up the usual suspects, or with the intent of deflecting attention on others.

"There has been so much heat generated, by instincts ranging from justified concern to vindictive retribution. There have been occasional glimpses of light, but where were the pundits at the time it might have counted?"

He said few were perceptive enough to have seen a major collapse was brewing and "misread the prospects in much the same way as those they now blame".

The accounts show that the highest-paid director, believed to be Grossart, received 573,000, against 569,000 last year.