LONDON (Alliance News) - Charles Stanley Group PLC Thursday said its full-year pretax profit declined by a third in its last financial year, as the stockbroker and investment manager acquired new teams and investment managers, continued the roll-out of its direct-to-client web-based service, and upgraded its discretionary and advisory investment management service.
In a statement, Charles Stanley said that it made a GBP6.1 million pretax profit in the year ended March 31, compared with GBP9.1 million a year earlier. Revenue rose by GBP21.5 million to GBP149.0 million, but was outpaced by administrative expenses swelling by GBP24.4 million to GBP143.4 million. Funds under management and administration rose by 14% to GBP20.1 billion.
Chairman David Howard welcomed the increase in revenue and in funds under management and administration, but said that profit had been hit by a year of significant cost and investment.
"This pace of development is likely to continue over the year ahead, but the changes that are in place already should, all things being equal, deliver an improvement in our profitability. Nevertheless there are too many uncertainties at this early stage of the year to make any reliable predictions. So once again I approach the future with a degree of caution," Howard said in a statement.
Charles Stanley upped its full-year dividend to 12.25 pence from 11.75p.
Charles Stanley shares were Thursday quoted at 423.00 pence, down 0.2%.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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