Shares in Durlacher Corporation, the former darling of the UK technology market, are now trading at a stunning 97% below their highs from last year after the firm announced a first half loss in the wake of the technology collapse last year.

Durlacher, which has transformed itself from a traditional small-cap broking firm to a new economy specialist in the past few years, posted a loss of £14m (€22.2m) in the six months to the end of December, after it took a £13m charge in write-offs to cover costs in its portfolio of start-ups.