Charles Stanley FuMA rise in Q1 as trading activity increases

(Sharecast News) - Wealth manager Charles Stanley reported a rise in first-quarter funds under management and administration (FuMA) on Thursday as trading activity increased.
In the three months to the end of June, FuMA increased 11.9% compared to the previous three-month period to £22.6bn. Group revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% to £42.2m, while fee income rose 4.1%, primarily reflecting a 35.3% increase in revenue generated by the financial planning division.

Commission income pushed up 4.0% due to higher trading volumes, while interest income, as expected, fell 37.5% following cuts to base rates in March.

"After the market-driven steep decline in funds under management and administration at the end of the last financial year, resulting from the global impact of Covid-19, FuMA has recovered well," the company said.

Chief executive officer Paul Abberley said Charles Stanley had delivered a "good" trading performance in the first quarter.

"Our strong capital position has enabled us to take a measured response to the Covid-19 crisis and we have been able to ensure that our clients have continued to receive very high service levels.

"The crisis has changed our office working practices and client interaction, accelerating the need for standardisation and digitisation of more processes. As we continue the transformation programme for Charles Stanley, these will be core areas of focus for us throughout the rest of the financial year."

At 1100 BST, the shares were up 5.6% at 260.00p.