Major changes introduced by the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) - which came into force in January - have created big opportunities for Mattioli Woods (MTW), believes chief executive Ian Mattioli. That's because the pensions and wealth management group has always operated a fee-based model and has never relied on commissions - which have now been banned by the RDR. Yet many independent financial advisers (IFAs) are expected to struggle with that change to a fee-based system, leaving the group well placed to compete.
Moreover, total client assets rose 13.3 per cent to £3.24bn at the half-year stage, a majority of which was held within self-invested personal pensions (Sipp) and small self-administered pension schemes - these grew in number by 14.6 per cent to 5,186. The number of consultants rose from 46 to 55, too, and - given the growing demand for quality advice - Mr Mattioli believes this number could rise to nearer 155 within five years.
The group also launched a discretionary portfolio management service last year and this has already attracted funds of £51.2m, generating £490,000 of fee income. Employee benefit revenues more than doubled to £2.31m as well, helped by a full period contribution from employee benefit and wealth management group, Kudos.
Canaccord Genuity expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £4.8m, giving adjusted EPS of 22.5p (from £4.3m and 22p in 2012).
| MATTIOLI WOODS (MTW) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 245p | MARKET VALUE: | £44.6m | |
| TOUCH: | 243-253p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 248p | LOW: 165p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 147p* | NET CASH: | £3.94m | |
| Half-year to 30 Nov | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 8.70 | 1.48 | 5.59 | 1.85 |
| 2012 | 11.3 | 2.16 | 9.49 | 2.33 |
| % change | +30 | +46 | +70 | +26 |
Ex-div: 6 Feb Payment: 1 Mar *Includes intangible assets of £22.9m, or 126p a share | ||||
