25th Jul 2018 09:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wealth management firm Rathbone Brothers PLC hiked its interim dividend 9% Wednesday after its profit and managed assets grew in the first six months of 2018.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit widened 64% to GBP43.7 million from GBP26.6 million the year prior. This was after operating income rose 3.6% to GBP153.2 million from GBP147.9 million the year before.
Profit performance was helped by a fall in operating expenses to GBP10.9.5 million from GBP121.3 million the year prior. This was primarily after the year before incurred a GBP15.8 million exceptional costs associated with its head office relocation. On an underlying basis, preaxt profit increased 12% to GBP48.3 million from GBP43.3 million the year prior.
Total funds under management advanced to GBP39.9 billion, up 2.0% from GBP39.1 billion six months earlier. This is compared to a 0.7% fall in FTSE 100 index over the same period.
Fund under management in unit trusts rose to GBP5.8 billion from GBP5.3 billion six months earlier. This was helped by net inflows of GBP299 million during the first half of 2018.
"The first half of 2018 has been a busy one for Rathbones as we progressed a full project agenda and announced the acquisition of Speirs & Jeffrey whilst maintaining our focus on day-to-day operations," Rathbone Chief Executive Officer Philip Howell said. "We remain confident in the outlook for the business."
In mid-June, Rathbone agreed to acquire Scottish wealth manager Speirs & Jeffrey Ltd for an initial GBP104 million in cash and shares. The deal still has to secure regulatory approval.
Rathbone proposed a 24.0 pence per share interim dividend, up 9.1% from 22.0p the year prior.
Shares in Rathbone were 1.4% lower at 2,458.00 pence on Wednesday.
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