Rathbone Brothers' (RAT) acquisition of Scottish rival Speirs & Jeffrey – which brought with it £6.7bn in funds – was its saving grace last year, against a backdrop of rocky markets and investor caution. That offset £3.2bn in negative market movements, with funds under management rising almost a quarter to £38.5bn.
The wealth manager is in a state of flux, with chief executive Phillip Howell due to retire in May and a new set of financial targets announced during the second-half. Investors will no doubt be keen to know whether the 5 per cent target for organic growth – which came in at 3.4 per cent last year – will be revised. Chief financial officer Paul Stockton, who is due to take over the top job, attributes the group’s failure to meet this target to sustained low interest rates. “Inevitably what happens is more clients are using what’s in their portfolios rather than investing, to supplement their living standards,” he says.
Analysts at house broker Peel Hunt expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £91.4m for the year to December 2019, giving EPS of 126.5p (2018: £91.6m, 138.4p).
| RATHBONE BROTHERS (RAT) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 2,250p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1.24bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,248-2,250p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,810p | LOW: 2,204p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.9% | PE RATIO: | 23 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 841p* | |||
| Year to 31 Dec | Total operating income (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 209 | 45.7 | 76.0 | 52 |
| 2015 | 230 | 58.6 | 97.4 | 55 |
| 2016 | 251 | 50.1 | 78.9 | 57 |
| 2017 | 292 | 58.9 | 92.7 | 61 |
| 2018 | 312 | 61.3 | 88.7 | 66 |
| % change | +7 | +4 | -4 | +8 |
| Ex-div: | 18 Apr | |||
| Payment: | 14 May | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £239m, or 433p a share | ||||
