CompaniesJun 4 2013

Herts IFA parent reports £40k loss as income falls

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I-Financial Services Group, the listed financial services group that owns Hertfordshire IFA Lyndhurst Financial Management, has made an after tax loss for 2012 £40,567, as income dropped during a year dominated by Retail Distribution Review preparations.

In its annual results, published yesterday (3 June), the group said the losses were primarily a result of an investment writedown of £70,000 in London and Hong Kong Exchange Plc after the group carried out an impairment review.

Income fell over the year from £1.13m to £1.11m. Operating profit actually rose from a loss of close to £41,000 in 2011 to a gain of around £43,000, but this was eroded by interest payments and the investment writedown.

The loss for the year was a slight improvement on 2011, when it recorded a negative figure of a little more than £53,000.

Group chairman Martin Corrie said the focus for the business over 2012 was on “preparing the financial services business for the changes that took place at the end of 2012 as a result of the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review”.

He said: “The multi segment client proposition had been rolled out to clients by the end of 2012. The active fund monitoring service that it launched in 2010 has showed continued growth during the year, with the business attracting new high net worth clients.

I-Financial Services Group consists of Hertfordshire-based Lyndhurst Financial Management, which provides bespoke wealth management solutions, and I-Corporate Services Ltd, which offers management consultancy and fund raising services.

The company announced on 29 May 2013 its intention to withdraw the ordinary shares of the company from the ISDX Growth Market as of 12 June 2013. After withdrawing, the directors intend that the shares will be traded on the JP Jenkins share matching service.

Martin Corrie, I-Financial’s chairman, said: “While these losses are disappointing on the surface, they are as a result of a write down of an investment of £70,000 in London and Hong Kong Exchange Plc after the group carried out an impairment review.

“At an operating level the group has improved significantly on the prior years performance and the first quarter of 2013 shows a return to profitability, which your board is confident of maintaining for the rest of the year despite the continued uncertainty over the economy.”

In April, Lyndhurst Financial Management said that it has benefited from the successful completion of its project to prepare for the introduction of RDR, which has boosted recurring revenue by more than 14 per cent.