27th Jun 2019 12:45
(Alliance News) - Harwood Wealth Management Group PLC on Thursday reported a surge in its profit in the first half of its current financial year and said it expects to deliver further growth in profit in the reminder of the year.
The financial planning and wealth management company reported revenue growth of 6% to GBP16.1 million for the six months to the end of April compared to GBP15.1 million a year earlier, pushing pretax profit up by 74% to GBP1.6 million from GBP930,000.
Harwood upped its interim payout by 8% to 1.17 pence from 1.08p paid the year ago.
Assets under influence were GBP5.3 billion, an increase of GBP500 million from the year end, and assets under management were GBP1.8 billion, representing an increase of GBP100 million.
During the first half Harwood completed one acquisition and exchanged on a further three.
Administrative expenses, excluding depreciation and amortisation, increased by 8% to GBP4.5 million year-on-year. The increase represented higher employment costs, reflecting employed advisers and other expenses to support growth.
"Against the backdrop of turbulent equity markets the group continued to deliver in line with its strategy," noted Chair Peter Mann.
"Our group is in good health as we enter the second half of the year, and we look forward with confidence to continuing to deliver profitable growth," added Mann.
Harwood shares were trading 6.1% lower on Thursday in London at 115.00p each.
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