While competitors like Brooks Macdonald (BRK) have recently flagged margin erosion, Mattioli Woods’ (MTW) focus on increasing efficiency seemed to pay off during the first-half. The adjusted cash profit margin increased from 21.4 per cent to 22.9 per cent, as the wealth manager benefited from increased scale in its investment and property management businesses. However, with operating costs expected to be weighted to the second half, management reckons margins will settle around its 20 per cent target at the year-end.
<company-widget ticker="MTW:LSE"/
Overall client assets increased 5 per cent to £8.3bn. Discretionary wealth management continued to prove popular, with gross assets increasing 14 per cent to £2.1bn. That was partly thanks to the launch of its four multi-asset funds in August, with assets standing at £1.5bn at the period-end. The funds give Mattioli increased bartering power with underlying asset providers and give clients access to a broader range of investments, such as IPOs.
A 5 per cent increase in the number of self-invested personal pensions (Sipp) and self-administered pension schemes (Ssas), drove pension consultancy and administration revenues up almost a fifth.
Analysts at Shore Capital expect pre-tax profits of £11.4m during the 12 months to May 2018, giving EPS of 36.8p (2017: £10.1m, 33.9p).
| MATTIOLI WOODS (MTW) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 765p | MARKET VALUE: | £200m | |
| TOUCH: | 760-770p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 862p | LOW: 760p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.9% | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 291p* | NET CASH: | £14.8m | |
| Half-year to 30 Nov | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 24.3 | 3.58 | 11.6 | 4.7 |
| 2017 | 28.4 | 5.39 | 17.0 | 5.5 |
| % change | +17 | +50 | +47 | +17 |
| Ex-div: | 15 Feb | |||
| Payment: | 30 Mar | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £43.7m, or 167p a share | ||||
