European Wealth has said it will overhaul the charging structure for its financial planning business, as it reported a loss before tax during the first half of the year
The wealth manager plans to revise its charging structure following a pricing review, as it looks to better align the charges with a level of service that is “appropriate” for clients.
Its results stated the firm expects margins within the financial planning business to improve once the new structure has been installed in the next six months.
The group also revealed it had made a pre-tax loss of £500,000 - continuing a downward trend from the loss of £400,000 over the same period last year.
For the whole of 2015, the firm reported a loss before tax of £1m, against a £300,000 loss in 2014.
It blamed this year’s drop in profit on higher amortisation and finance costs, largely associated with the integration of the three companies it purchased last year.
Performance was impacted by a fall in new business generated by the financial planners John MortonThe firm’s financial planning business also suffered from what it described as a “disappointing” turnover during the year so far, but espoused confidence that the second half of the year should see a recovery in revenue figures.
Performance in the first six months was impacted by a short-term fall in the amount of new business generated by the financial planners, the report added.
Funds under management, however, painted a more positive picture, jumping by nearly 30 per cent over the past 12 months, reaching £1.4bn from the £1.1bn reported on 30 June 2015.
John Morton, group chief executive of European Wealth, said the first half of this year has seen an improvement in the trading performance of the group, helped by falls in ongoing costs.
He expected the group to continue to improve the underlying trading performance into the second half of the year.
The first six months also saw a 12.8 per cent boost in revenue, hitting £4.4m, against the £3.9m reported in the first half of 2015, and Mr Morton said it was his ambition to continue to build on the amount of revenue that is generated on a recurring basis.
The European Wealth boss added his focus remains on organic growth, as well as through acquisition and attracting revenue-generating staff.
katherine.denham@ft.com
