LONDON (Alliance News) - Asset manager Gresham House PLC on Thursday proposed a maiden dividend while also reporting a more than tripling of assets under management.
Gresham is returning 3.0 pence per share to its shareholders for 2018, up from none the prior year.
Assets under management at the end of 2018 were GBP2.27 billion, from GBP649 million a year before, while total income more than doubled to GBP14.5 million from GBP6.5 million.
Gresham's assets under management were helped by the acquisitions of FIM Services Ltd and the investment arm of Livingbridge VC LPP, while organic growth was 30%.
Gresham's pretax operating loss was GBP875,000 from GBP2.4 million, while it swung to adjusted operating profit of GBP3.0 million from a loss of GBP700,000 in 2017.
The Livingbridge and FIM acquisitions were "transformative", Gresham House said, with integration now more or less complete.
Looking ahead, 2019 has begun positively, while it enters the year with a strong balance sheet in the face of a slowing bull cycle and Brexit uncertainty.
"We have continued to maintain momentum and make excellent progress in shareholder value creation whilst investing in the platform ahead of future growth, adding scale to the business and identifying synergies," commented Chief Executive Tony Dalwood.
"The opportunities in the alternatives sector offer high-quality long-term investment returns for clients, and Gresham House has quality fund management teams and award winning individuals to execute within those specialist markets. The 2019 to 2020 pipeline for further organic AUM growth is exciting."
Shares were 2.5% higher on Thursday at a price of 457.00p each.