(Alliance News) - St James's Place PLC on Wednesday posted a swing to first half profit as funds under management reached a record high.
Shares in St James's Place were trading up 5.8% at 1,596.00 pence each in London on Wednesday morning, the best performing blue chip stock.
The FTSE 100-listed wealth manager swung to a pretax profit of GBP482.6 million for the six months that ended June 30, from a GBP71.9 million loss a year earlier.
Funds under management climbed 11% to a record GBP143.77 billion on June 30 from GBP129.34 billion at the end of last year.
Annually, assets under management rose 24% from GBP115.68 billion on June 30, 2020.
Inflows jumped 27% year-on-year to GBP9.19 billion from GBP7.26 billion the Gloucestershire, England-based firm said.
St James's Place declared an 11.55p per share first half payout, in line with its plan for interim dividends to amount to 30% of the prior year's total dividend.
The company did not make a payout in the first half of 2020.
After a "strong start" to July, the company said it expects gross inflow growth of around 20% in the second half, despite strengthening comparatives in the latter part of the year.
"Although there remains inherent uncertainty in the operating environment as the UK and the world at large continues to navigate the pandemic, the results we have announced today show we have made an encouraging start against our 2025 ambitions," Chief Executive Andrew Croft said.
If modest investment market growth and strong client retention continue, the company said it could expect GBP200 billion in funds under management by 2025.
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
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St James's Place (STJ)