Mattioli Woods to meet full-year expectations

Mattioli Woods has issued a solid trading update for the first half, led by good results from its recent acquisitions, saying it expects full-year results to meet expectations. It has also hinted that is on the lookout for further acquisitions.

Discussing trading for the six months ending November 30th, Bob Woods, Executive Chairman of the pension and wealth management consultancy, said: "Increased activity since the summer months and strong results from recent acquisitions have delivered further profitable growth.

"The first half of this financial year has been dominated by the launch of our discretionary portfolio management service and preparing for the implementation of the Financial Services Authority's (FSA's) retail distribution review (RDR).

Woods expressed confidence that this would "deliver results in line with management's expectations for the year." Consensus estimates for the full year ending May 31st 2013 are for pre-tax profits of £5.22m on turnover of £21.63m.

Mattioli Woods also expects that FSA proposals to increase the regulatory capital requirements for self-invested pension (SIPP) providers will, by driving industry consolidation, present it with opportunities to make acquisitions.

The group, which provides financial advice to professionals, is confident that the quality of future earning will be improved by the introduction of adviser fees and discretionary portfolio management, having already attracted £40m of assets under management since September 1st.

Its third-party administration business, City Pensions Limited, has enjoyed strong profit growth following its relocation to Leicester, improved by its appointment to operate The Pilgrim SIPP (Pilgrim). Its appointment to operate Pilgrim benefitted its property business, Custodian Capital Limited (CCL), which now administers 11 property syndicates on behalf of Pilgrim members. CCL also saw £11m of new investment into six new syndicates during the period.

Mattioli Woods will announce its interim results for the six months ending November 30th on Tuesday January 29th 2013.

CM