27th Jan 2015 09:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mattioli Woods PLC Tuesday reported a rise in first-half pretax profit, bolstered by new rules in the UK that give people more control over their pensions pots.
In a statement, the wealth manager and employee benefits business said it made a GBP2.7 million pretax profit in the six months ended November 30, compared with GBP2.2 million in the corresponding period last year.
"We believe our blend of wealth management and employee benefits positions us well to secure further profitable growth going forward and current trading remains in line with the board's expectations," Bob Woods, executive chairman, said in a statement.
The group has five operating divisions - direct pension consultancy and administration, third party administration, investment and asset management, property management, employee benefits - all of which saw increases in revenue, contributing to a group reporting a 23% rise in first-half revenue to GBP16.6 million.
According to the company, direct pension consultancy and administration, which made up 37% of total revenue, stands to benefit from pensions changes proposed by the UK government last March and due to come into force in April this year. The division reported a 21% rise in revenue to GBP6.1 million.
"We believe these changes will trigger a fundamental rethink of the role of pension planning in clients' affairs, which we expect to benefit our core pensions business," Woods said.
In addition, Mattioli Woods' investment and asset management arm reported a 32% rise in revenue to GBP5.4 million, generated from advising clients on both pension and personal investments.
The group also reported increases in employee benefits revenue, boosted by a full contribution from Atkinson Bolton Consulting Ltd after its acquisition in July 2013, and in property management revenue, most of which is attributable to Custodian Capital's management of specialist property investor Custodian REIT PLC.
Woods said acquisitions remain a core part of the group's growth strategy, following the purchase of Torquil Clark pension business last August
Mattioli Woods increased its interim dividend to 3.34 pence per share from 3.10 pence per share.
Mattioli Woods shares were up 2.4% at 506.00 pence on Tuesday.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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