19th May 2016 06:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - Anglo-South African financial services group Investec PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit grew in the financial year to the end of March thanks to a solid performance in its banking arm, while assets held by its investment management units declined.
The FTSE 250-listed group said its operating profit before tax edged up to GBP567.4 million from GBP562.5 million a year earlier, as total operating income for the financial year grew to GBP1.93 billion from GBP1.89 billion.
Investec said total funds under management in its Asset Management division fell to GBP75.7 billion from GBP77.5 billion a year earlier, while funds under management in the Wealth Management arm fell to GBP45.5 billion from GBP46.1 billion. Net inflows for the two businesses hit GBP5.3 billion, but the total under management was dragged lower by market performance.
The Specialist Banking arm reported results ahead of the previous year, Investec said, boosted by client activity in its corporate and private banking units and good results from its investment and debt securities portfolios.
"The decisive action we took within the Specialist Bank in prior years, supported by continued penetration of our target client base, has achieved strong results. Wealth and Investment's increased collaboration with the Private Banking business is proving successful. Asset Management have continued to see good net inflows across their client groups. Overall a good performance in a challenging environment reinforces our strategy of building a diversified business model," said Chief Executive Stephen Koseff.
Investec said it will pay a final dividend of 11.5 pence per share, taking its total payout to 21.0p, up 5.0% from 20.0p a year earlier.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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