LONDON (Alliance News) - Walker Crips Group PLC Thursday said its pretax profit narrowed for the half year, though last year's figures were inflated by the GBP9.9 million gain on the disposal of Walker Crips Asset Managers Ltd in April 2012.
The investment and wealth management services company said it made a GBP2.2 million pretax profit for the six months to September 30, compared with GBP7.7 million for the corresponding period last year, when the company benefited from the sale of its asset management division to Liontrust Asset Management PLC.
The recent year's pretax profit also was boosted by the sale of asset-management business, with a GBP1.8 million one-off gain on the sale of investments connected to disposal. Walker Crips received convertible loan stock in Liontrust as part of the deal, which it has since converted and sold.
The company swung to an operating profit of GBP263,000, compared with a GBP1.1 million operating loss last year. Walker Crips cited progress in its investment and wealth management businesses as the drivers behind a 29% increase in gross profit, which amounted to GBP6.7 million.
Walker Crips said it is continuing its transformation from a traditional private client stockbroker to a full service, increasingly fee based, investment and wealth management group, and said that this strategy returned the company to profitability.
"The results of refocusing and building the Group's investment management division and expanding its wealth management division continue to be ahead of our expectations. Targeted regional expansion is gathering pace to complement the growing team of advisers in London and in York," Chairman David Gelber said in a statement.
Walker Crips increased its interim dividend 8.5% to 0.51 pence per share from 0.47 pence per share in 2012.
Shares in the company were Thursday quoted at 45.00 pence, down 2.2%.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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