Rathbone Share Price (RAT)

The underlying annualised rate of net organic growth was 3.0% in 2012, 2.0% less than recorded in the previous year, which the company said reflected a £31m outflow from Albany Investment Trust and £31m of outflows following the end of contractual arrangements with Cavanagh Financial Management. Andy Pomfret, Chief Executive Officer of Rathbone Brothers, said: "Market conditions remained challenging for private clients in 2012 but Rathbones did increase its funds under management by 13.4% to £18bn in the year. Profit before tax of £38.8m for the year to December 31st 2012 was marginally lower than the £39.2m in 2011 but basic earnings per share of 67.00p were up 0.4% on 66.72p in 2011. He added: "After a challenging 2012 UK equity markets ended the year on a more positive note and this has continued into 2013. Rathbones looks forward to 2013 with more optimism although markets do remain fragile as governments, particularly in the US, the UK and the eurozone, battle with difficult economic and financial conditions. "Rathbones continues to grow and consolidate its position as a leading provider of high-quality, personalised discretionary investment management services."

Total funds under management rose 13.4 per cent and a final dividend of 30p was proposed for the year to December 31st, preliminary results issued by Rathbone Brothers have disclosed. The company stated that the board proposed a dividend of 30p, up from 29p a year earlier, resulting in a full year dividend of 47p - a 1.0p increase compared to in 2011. The proposed dividend would be covered 1.4 times by basic earnings and 1.7 times by underlying earnings. Funds under management were up to £17.98bn from £15.85bn. The total net annual growth rate of funds under management for Rathbone Investment Management was 6.0%, down from 8.0% in the previous year. This comprised £0.48bn of acquired inflows from new investment teams, the private client acquisitions of R.M. Walkden & Co. and AIB Jersey as well as £0.44bn of net organic growth.

Rathbose Brothers: Numis upgrades to hold with a target price of 1200p.

Shares in wealth management outfit Rathbone Brothers have been placed at 1,235p a pop with institutional investors, allowing the firm to top up its war-chest. The company raised £24.7m (gross) through the issue of 2m shares, half a million more than it was targeting when it announced the share placing first thing on Wednesday morning. The group is hitting the acquisition trail again and so it needs the money. Its first purchase is the UK private client investment management business of Taylor Young Investment Management (TYIM). TYIM's management team will soon be wearing Rathbone colours after the latter agreed to pay up to £10m in cash for the business, although the consideration could rise to £15m by November 2014 depending on the performance of funds currently being managed by TYIM. Rathbones expects the transaction to be earnings neutral in 2013 prior to amortisation, and should start contributing to earnings from 2014 onwards. As at November 2nd, TYIM had £337m of funds under management (FUM), and Rathbones has calculated that adding those funds to its own pot would increase FUM by 2.0% to £17.69bn. Andy Pomfret, Chief Executive of Rathbone Brothers, said management expects to see more acquisition opportunities in the private client industry in the next few years.

Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers has provided a solid quarterly trading update on Wednesday with funds under management (FuM) slightly up on the same period in the prior year. Total FuM for the nine months to September 30th were £17.35bn (2011: £15.05bn), with net operating income increasing to £116m (2011: £108.7m) for the period. Underlying net operating income of £109.4m in Rathbone Investment Management for the nine months ended September 30th was 7.9% higher than 2011. Net interest income of £7.6m in the first nine months of 2012 was in line with the same period in 2011. The company commented: "Pressure on interest margins is expected to continue into 2013". "We expect markets to remain challenging for the remainder of 2012 reflecting a weak outlook for global growth and continuing nervousness over the future of the eurozone," said Chief Executive Officer Andy Pomfret. "Despite this, we will continue to invest and grow as a leading provider of high-quality personalised discretionary investment management services in the post RDR world."

Investment firm Rathbone Brothers has acquired just under one-fifth of both Vision Independent Financial Planning and its sister company, Castle Investment Solutions. Rathbone Brothers has paid £2m in cash for a 19.9% stake in the pair. The stakes have been purchased from the founders of Vision and Castle, namely Roger Edwards and Paul Sweaton, and their spouses. Rathbone Brothers has the option to take total ownership of the two businesses in 2015 for a mixture of cash and Rathbone shares, with a further potential deferred element payable at the start of 2018. If Rathbone chooses not to exercise this option, the founders of the acquired businesses have the right to buy back the stakes they sold to Rathbones for £2m. Vision is an independent specialist financial advice network focusing on high net worth private clients. Rathbone Investment Management already has an existing discretionary fund management panel relationship with Vision. As for Castle, it operates as a sister company to Vision, providing it with certain administrative services.