After another tough quarter in a two-year string of downbeat reports, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.’s top executive said he sees some hopeful signs for the firm’s capital markets business.

The Canadian investment bank and wealth management company saw revenue drop by 11 per cent to $337.3 million in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, according to a statement late Tuesday.

“It’s probably been the longest, worst new-issue market in my career,” Canaccord Chief Executive Officer Dan Daviau said in an interview. “You’ve always had bad quarters, but rarely do you have bad successive years.” 

The firm was break-even, excluding special items, below analysts’ expectations for a profit of 10 cents a share, according to a Bloomberg survey. 

Capital markets revenue plunged by 30 per cent to $144.8 million amid a dearth of initial public offerings and new equity issues and a lack of transactions in the firm’s key sectors, which include cannabis and mining.   

But Daviau said he’s already seen an improvement in mergers and acquisitions activity at Canaccord and believes new issues have hit a bottom and should start to rebound in the coming months. This week, legal software provider Dye & Durham Ltd. announced it had hired Canaccord and Goldman Sachs for a strategic review that may lead to a large divestiture. 

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re through it now,” Daviau said. 

Canaccord’s wealth management business, which is focused mainly on the U.K., Canada and Australia, remained a stabilizing force for the company, with revenue up 11 per cent to $187.2 million. 

“Thank God that we had a wealth business that we had invested so much in over the last five, six years,” Daviau said.

Wealth management revenues were up 25 per cent at $101 million in the U.K. division, Canaccord’s largest, but down slightly to $70.8 million in North America.     

The firm’s results included $10 million in restructuring costs incurred for about 100 job cuts in the investment banking business made in August. Daviau said he does not see the need for further reductions in staff.