(Alliance News) - AssetCo PLC on Wednesday said it swung to a half-year loss in a busy period for the firm as it bought River & Mercantile Group PLC.
In the half-year ended March 31, AssetCo turned to a pretax loss of GBP2.6 million from a profit of GBP22.3 million a year ago.
The firm explained that this was "in line with our expectations as we continue to build the business". It added the profit in 2021 was largely due to the final payment received from a successful litigation claim against Grant Thornton.
"We have made good progress in developing AssetCo's listed equity platform, private markets capability and thematic ETF business," said Chief Executive Campbell Fleming.
One of the acquisitions announced in the period was its purchase of River & Mercantile. The acquisition is now complete and River & Mercantile shares have been cancelled from trading in London.
Following the purchase, AssetCo now has GBP12.2 billion in assets under management. AssetCo, which like River & Mercantile is a London-based advisory and asset management company, posted an annual revenue of GBP1.3 million, versus none a year ago.
The company proposed a 13.0 pence interim dividend.
Citing the acquisition, AssetCo sees itself in a "sound financial shape."
"Following completion of the acquisition of, and return of capital from, River and Mercantile, the group will have net cash of more than GBP45 million," it said.
AssetCo shares were 6.4% higher at 745.00p each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Tom Budszus; tombudszus@alliancenews.com
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Assetco (ASTO)