Charles StanleyMay 28 2020

Charles Stanley sees 45% profit boost despite £4bn FUM hit

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Charles Stanley sees 45% profit boost despite £4bn FUM hit

Charles Stanley has seen profits rise 45 per cent despite funds at the wealth manager taking a £4bn hit as a result of the coronavirus crisis. 

In its annual results published to the market today (May 28) the company reported its pre-tax profits had grown to £19.3m at the end of March this year, a 45 per cent increase on profits of £13.3m in 2019. 

This was despite its funds under management taking a significant hit of £4bn throughout the year, driven by the coronavirus fallout and its impact on global markets in the first three months of 2020.

Charles Stanley attributed its increased profits to a repricing exercise completed by the company a year ago, which saw the business increase its rates for investment management services in line with the rest of the market. 

As a result the wealth manager has also seen an uptick in revenues across all three of its divisions, investment management services, Charles Stanley Direct and financial planning.

Across the group revenue jumped 11.5 per cent to £173m, up from £155.2m last year, which the company said was driven in particular by higher fee income in its financial planning arm. 

Paul Abberley, chief executive at Charles Stanley, said: "These strong results reflect the benefits of our ongoing transformation programme.

"In particular, the substantial rise in profits was achieved by the repricing exercise completed last year to bring our rates
into line with market.

"Trading results for the new financial year are expected to be significantly impacted by the crisis, with lower stock market valuations and reduced interest rates -however, Charles Stanley is well positioned to navigate through the challenges and to emerge strongly."

rachel.mortimer@ft.com

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