Steady progress for Brewin Dolphin

Last year was a one of steady progress for Scottish stockbroker and investment manager Brewin Dolphin as financial markets settled down. Revenue in the 52 weeks to 26 September climbed to £234.9m from £187.2m, while total income improved by 18% to £250.9m from £212.3m the year before. The Investment Management business, which churns out 96% of group turnover, made "useful progress" with funds under management rising to £23.2bn from £20.5bn a year earlier, a 13% increase largely accounted for by a rise of 19% in discretionary funds.Profit before tax surged 43% to £31.4m from £21.9m the year before. Profit before tax excluding redundancy costs, contract renewal payments and amortisation of client relationships was up by a quarter to £40.2m from £32.1m in 2009."It would appear that there is a growing realisation that prudent financial management and the merits of equity over debt finance are a fundamental key to economic growth. In particular we believe that this view is strongly held in the UK and this leads us to look to the future with optimism," said executive chairman Jamie Matheson.The final dividend has been left unchanged at 3.55p, giving an unchanged total dividend of 7.1p.