Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- ICAP Plc fell as much as 24 percent after the world's largest broker of trades between banks failed for the first time since 2001 to say if profit will beat forecasts.

Earnings may be ``well ahead'' of 2008, the company said in a statement today. It's the first time in at least seven years that the broker hasn't provided investors with guidance on whether earnings will meet or improve on analyst estimates, which currently indicate 2009 pretax profit of 370 million pounds.

``Given the strength of revenue growth in the first half, the fact that management are indicating that full-year profits should be merely ahead of the prior year will raise concerns around earnings generation for the second half,'' said Bruce Hamilton, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London, who has an ``in-line'' rating on London-based ICAP.

ICAP full-year earnings may beat the 330 million-pound ($595 million) pretax profit it posted for the year ended March 2008, it said in a statement today. ICAP benefits from the same price fluctuations in securities that drove Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. out of business and forced Merrill Lynch & Co. to be taken over by Bank of America Corp. A JPMorgan Chase & Co. index that measures volatility in currencies rose to a 10-year high on Sept. 17, the same day an index gauging swings in stocks soared to the most since 2002.

``This speaks to the significant difficulties in forecasting due to potential implications of de-leveraging and customer consolidation on the business,'' Morgan Stanley's Hamilton said.

Shares Drop

ICAP fell by a record in London trading, dropping as much as 91.5 pence, or 24.2 percent, to 287 pence a share. The decline is the biggest since ICAP was first listed in 1998. The shares have lost 60 percent this year and were at 289.25 pence at the close of trading in London, valuing the company at 1.9 billion pounds.

ICAP said its losses from the collapse of Lehman Brothers are limited to unpaid brokerage fees and are ``not material.'' No single customer accounts for more than 5 percent of revenue, the broker said.

Trading in equity and interest-rate derivatives grew, while credit markets continued to be subdued and emerging market revenue was down from the previous year, the statement said.

``ICAP continues to benefit from the generally high levels of volatility in the wholesale financial markets,'' Chief Executive Officer Michael Spencer said in the statement. ``The extraordinary events in financial markets have again generated very high trading volumes.''

The London-based company expects first-half revenue to be 20 percent ahead of the same period a year earlier, according to the statement. ICAP said current market conditions make forecasting trading activity ``more difficult than usual.''

Revenue Decline

Revenue growth at ICAP and its competitors is driven by the capital customers use to trade in the over-the-counter markets, which means revenue may decline if clients reduce trading, Daniel Garrod, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London, said in a note to clients today.

ICAP competes with brokers including GFI Group Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald LP in New York and Tullett Prebon Plc in London.

Derivatives are financial instruments derived from stocks, bonds, loans, currencies and commodities, or linked to specific events like changes in the weather or interest rates.

The company will announce earnings on Nov. 20 for the six months ending Sept. 30.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Glover in London at johnglover@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 29, 2008 11:58 EDT