Funds under management up 13.4 per cent at Rathbone Brothers

Total funds under management rose 13.4 per cent and a final dividend of 30p was proposed for the year to December 31st, preliminary results issued by Rathbone Brothers have disclosed.

The company stated that the board proposed a dividend of 30p, up from 29p a year earlier, resulting in a full year dividend of 47p - a 1.0p increase compared to in 2011.

The proposed dividend would be covered 1.4 times by basic earnings and 1.7 times by underlying earnings.

Funds under management were up to £17.98bn from £15.85bn.

The total net annual growth rate of funds under management for Rathbone Investment Management was 6.0%, down from 8.0% in the previous year. This comprised £0.48bn of acquired inflows from new investment teams, the private client acquisitions of R.M. Walkden & Co. and AIB Jersey as well as £0.44bn of net organic growth.

The underlying annualised rate of net organic growth was 3.0% in 2012, 2.0% less than recorded in the previous year, which the company said reflected a £31m outflow from Albany Investment Trust and £31m of outflows following the end of contractual arrangements with Cavanagh Financial Management.

Andy Pomfret, Chief Executive Officer of Rathbone Brothers, said: "Market conditions remained challenging for private clients in 2012 but Rathbones did increase its funds under management by 13.4% to £18bn in the year. Profit before tax of £38.8m for the year to December 31st 2012 was marginally lower than the £39.2m in 2011 but basic earnings per share of 67.00p were up 0.4% on 66.72p in 2011.

He added: "After a challenging 2012 UK equity markets ended the year on a more positive note and this has continued into 2013. Rathbones looks forward to 2013 with more optimism although markets do remain fragile as governments, particularly in the US, the UK and the eurozone, battle with difficult economic and financial conditions.

"Rathbones continues to grow and consolidate its position as a leading provider of high-quality, personalised discretionary investment management services."

Rathbone Brothers' share price was down 2.01% to 1,4111p at 08:34 on Wednesday morning.

MF