Brewin Dolphin profits under pressure from one-off costs, but funds keep flowing in
Brewin Dolphin has revealed today that its profits slipped during its 2016 financial year, after a one-off gain skewed the comparable numbers.
The figures
The wealth manager revealed that its statutory profits before tax had fallen to £50.1m for the full year to September, down 18 per cent from £61m the year before, although the earlier year's figures did contain a gain of £9.7m linked to its earlier sale of Euroclear.
Total income inched down slightly to £282.4m, a fall of 0.5 per cent from £283.7m the year before, while total funds increased to £35.4bn, up 10.6 per cent compared with £32bn at the end the 2015 financial year.
The company also boosted its full-year dividend by 8.3 per cent to 13p, while its final dividend was bumped up to 9.15p, an increase of 10.9 per cent.
Shares in the FTSE 250 company are up 4.3 per cent at 274.2p at time of writing.
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Why it's important
Brewin Dolphin has been working hard over the past two or three years to turn its business around and better streamline its services to match customers' needs, including launching a professional services offering during this financial year.
Meanwhile, the markets have not stayed still this year, particularly after being rocked in both the run up to and the fallout from June's surprise vote to leave the EU, making it tricky for those handling investments to know where to turn next.
What Brewin Dolphin said
However, David Nicol, chief executive of Brewin Dolphin, told Morning Wire that it had more than a little bit of experience in handling uncertain times.
"We have been around quite a long time. We have taken clients through all those uncertain moments over the last 20, 30, 40 years and we'll continue to do that," said Nicol, noting that inflows in the last quarter, which followed the Brexit vote, had been healthy.