Cazenove's pre-tax profit before exceptional items tumbled 77% to £14m (€20m) in what the bank's chairman described as the most difficult year in a generation.

Investment banking income for the year ended April 30 was £177m, down 31% from £256m in 2002. Cazenove's retained profit for the year was £1.9m, with fund management income 27% lower than last year at £36m.