22nd May 2015 08:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - European Wealth Group Ltd Friday said it is still planning on acquisitions as part of its growth plans, as the wealth manager swung to a pretax loss in 2014.
The company, which joined London's AIM with the reverse takeover of European Wealth Management Group Ltd in May 2014, said it made a GBP337,000 pretax loss in 2014, compared with a GBP1.6 million pretax profit in the prior year.
Revenue increased to GBP5.6 million from GBP1.9 million but administrative expenses increased to GBP4.2 million from GBP304,000, cutting its operating profit. Exceptional costs, namely those taken in connection with the reverse acquisition to join AIM, amounted to GBP359,000.
European Wealth acquired financial planner Compass Financial Benefits Ltd last June and P&C Global Wealth Managers SA and GTI Fund Investment, an asset manager based in Switzerland, in November that year.
It also expanded into the North West of England with the opening of an office in Manchester in September.
"We will continue to grow the business through a combination of strategic acquisitions, attracting revenue-generating individuals and organic growth," Chairman John Morton said in a statement.
"The investment into our expansion, combined with the one-off costs associated to the reverse, has inevitably placed pressure on our headline numbers in the short-term though I am pleased to report we are now making progress in stabilising those costs," Morton said.
"Indeed, the board remain firmly of the view that a combination of an increased demand for the services the industry offers together with a continued consolidation can only provide an attractive opportunity for the continued development of the group," Morton said.
European Wealth shares were untraded on Friday. The stock last traded at 85 pence.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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