LONDON (Alliance News) - Charles Stanley Group PLC on Thursday had costs savings to thank for an improvement in its fortunes in the first half, which drove the investment management group to a pretax profit.
Pretax profit amounted to GBP1.6 million in the the six months ended September 30, compared with the GBP2.6 million pretax loss in the corresponding half the prior year. Pretax profit in its core business, which excludes the securities and employee benefits businesses it is selling, trebled to GBP3.0 million.
The main reason for the business's reported pretax profit was a 5.1% reduction in costs to GBP73.1 million against the corresponding half the prior year, Charles Stanley said. The company halved its interim dividend to 1.50 pence, following a previous change of policy.
"Trading during the first quarter was strong but weakened in the second quarter due to a decline in the stock market at the end of June and lower trading activity in recent months. Our results for the remainder of the year will be driven by a combination of internal performance and wider capital market developments, particularly UK equity valuations, which remain lower than they were at the start of the financial year," Chief Executive Paul Abberley said in a statement.
The chief executive reiterated that there is a "substantial schedule" of work left for Charles Stanley to complete over the next three to five years, although he praised the "good progress" already made in putting strong foundations in place.
Shares in Charles Stanley were up 2.8% to 339.75 pence on Thursday morning.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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