Shares in Mattioli Woods (MTW) rose nearly 4 per cent to a 30-month high after the pensions and wealth management specialist pushed adjusted pre-tax profits ahead by 10 per cent to £5.56m and hiked the dividend sharply.
Total client assets under management grew by 20.5 per cent to £3.64bn, including £302m of assets acquired with the purchase of rival Ashcourt Rowan's pension business. Other acquisitions included Thoroughbred Wealth Management, with similar deals expected as the industry consolidates in the wake of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), implemented at the start of the year.
Tougher regulatory capital requirements have seen a number of business failures on the self-invested personal pensions side, and the group has worked closely with The Insolvency Service to pick up further business. So while fee income eased from £8.17m to £7.51m, banking revenue generated from the operation of pension scheme accounts rose from £1.05m to £1.54m.
On the wealth management side, commission payments fell from £3.57m to £1.63m, but post-RDR investment advisory fees generated income of £0.92m from nothing a year earlier, while the £187m of funds attracted to the group's discretionary platform produced fee income of £1.92m. As a result, profits from the pension operation rose from £1.66m to £2.28m.
Canaccord Genuity is forecasting adjusted pre-tax profits of £6.3m for the coming year and EPS of 25.3p, up from £5.5m and 23.3p in 2013.
| MATTIOLI WOODS (MTW) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 325p | MARKET VALUE: | £64m | |
| TOUCH: | 320-325p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 325p | LOW: 185p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 17 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 147p* | NET CASH: | £8m | |
| Year to 31 May | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 13.3 | 3.90 | 15.7 | 3.90 |
| 2010 | 13.7 | 4.27 | 17.2 | 4.35 |
| 2011 | 15.4 | 4.55 | 18.9 | 4.95 |
| 2012 | 20.5 | 4.18 | 16.8 | 5.55 |
| 2013 | 23.4 | 4.64 | 19.3 | 7.00 |
| % change | +14 | +11 | +15 | +26 |
Ex-div: 4 Sep Payment: 15 Oct *Includes intangible assets of £24m, or 122p a share | ||||
