Arbuthnot Share News (ARBB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Private bank Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC said on Wednesday that pretax profit surged in 2017, reflecting the strong performance of principal banking subsidiary Arbuthnot Latham & Co Ltd.

Arbuthnot company's pretax profit rose to GBP7.0 million from GBP200,000 in the prior year, after Arbuthnot Latham reached the creditable milestone of surpassing GBP1.00 billion in its key business metrics customer loans, customer deposits and assets under management.

This was achieved while undertaking a significant IT infrastructure project that had a positive impact on all parts of the bank, according to the company.

Arbuthnot's subsidiary Arbuthnot Latham pretax profit rose in 2017 to GBP11.0 million from GBP9.1 million, after customer loans and deposits increased by 38% and 39% respectively and asset under management grew by 13%.

The company also declared a final dividend of 19 pence per share, with an increase of 1p on previous year. Together with the interim dividend of 14p, it gives a total dividend of 33p, down from 356p of the previous year, including special dividends of 325p.

Looking ahead, the bank looks positively at the Brexit and considers it "an opportunity".

Next year, "we will be on the verge of Britain's official exit from the EU. This I believe should not be the major worry for Britain's business community or economy and indeed should present an opportunity. The greater risk must be that of a hard left Labour government. This could have a significant impact on our clients and business. Such a threat is something that we all, and in particular businesses and entrepreneurs, must take very seriously," said Arbuthnot Chairman Henry Angest.

Shares in Arbuthnot Banking Group were up 1.6% at 1,351.00 pence per share on Wednesday.