Last year was a period of transformation for wealth manager Ashcourt Rowan (ARP). A focus on providing financial planning and investment management services was achieved through a change management programme which included selling non-core assets and the integration of the discretionary management side onto an outsourced Figaro trading platform.
These changes took time and money to achieve, however, so the group's underlying performance provides a better picture of the progress made. Underlying cash profit actually grew 37 per cent year-on-year to £3.8m, while the underlying profit margin grew from 8 per cent to 12 per cent. Funds under management increased from £3.7bn to £4bn, boosted by the acquisition of the discretionary wealth management business of Generali Portfolio Management.
Completed after the year-end, the group also purchased UK Wealth Management from Duke Street Capital, which will boost assets to £5.2bn. This will give Ashcourt Rowan an entry into the corporate pensions business and an opportunity to exploit the shift away from annuities in the UK pensions market following changes announced in this year’s Budget.
Broker N+1 Singer is forecasting adjusted pre-tax profit for 2015 of £6m, giving adjusted EPS of 14.2p (from £2.2m and 8.3p in 2014) rising to 18.8p in 2016.
| ASHCOURT ROWAN (ARP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 194p | MARKET VALUE: | £68.9m | |
| TOUCH: | 191-197p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 206p | LOW: 153p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 170p* | NET CASH: | £21.4m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 35.7 | -2.5 | -0.2 | nil |
| 2011 | 35.1 | -5.8 | -28.7 | nil |
| 2012 | 36.4 | -2.4 | -10.4 | nil |
| 2013 | 32.6 | -2.5 | -8.7 | nil |
| 2014 | 31.5 | -2.0 | -5.7 | nil |
| % change | -3 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: - Payment: - *Includes intangible assets of £37.7m or 106p a share | ||||
