(Alliance News) - Charles Stanley Group PLC on Thursday said profit climbed in the first half of its financial year as all three of the wealth manager's divisions posted growth and revenue margin improved.
Shares in Charles Stanley were up 18% at 302.00 pence in London shortly before midday.
For the six months ended September 30, Charles Stanley's pretax profit was GBP8.1 million, a 58% rise from the GBP5.1 million profit recorded the year before.
Chief Executive Paul Abberley said: "The increase in profits demonstrates that the hard work of recent years is now bearing fruit. The comprehensive repricing project, completed last March, and our continued shift towards higher margin services have been the key drivers of profit growth."
This repricing project helped take the revenue margin up to 69.9 basis points from 62.7 points.
Revenue rose 9.9% to GBP85.4 million from GBP77.7 million, as its Investment Management Services, Charles Stanley Direct, and Financial Planning divisions all improved.
Within that GBP85.4 million revenue figure, Investment Management Services rose 8.8% to GBP76.9 million from GBP70.7 million, Charles Stanley Direct revenue was up 29% at GBP4.5 million from GBP3.5 million, and Financial Planning increased 11% to GBP3.9 million from GBP3.5 million.
Administrative expenses totalled GBP76.0 million, up from GBP73.0 million, and the company incurred GBP1.2 million of restructuring costs versus no such costs the year prior.
Funds under management and administration as at September 30 were up 2.1% at GBP24.6 billion from GBP24.1 billion on March 31, though this was a 1.6% decrease year-on-year from GBP25.0 billion.
Charles Stanley has declared an interim dividend of 3.0p per share, up 9.1% from 2.75p per share.
In the second half of its year, Charles Stanley is expecting further progress with its initiatives and expressed confidence in the ability of its strategy to "support a sustainable improvement in underlying profitability".
Abberley said: "The business transformation programme that is underway is focused on improving the group's distribution capability and streamlining operational processes. In the short term, it will temper profitability given the costs, but will establish a stronger platform for long-term, sustainable growth.
"We are confident of further progress in the second half."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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