Arbuthnot set to beat full year profit expectations
BANKING group Arbuthnot delivered welcome good news to investors yesterday as it said annual pre-tax profit is expected to come in ahead of market expectations.
After falling into the red in 2008, Arbuthnot said its investment banking arm would post a profit for the second half of 2009 despite the division continuing to suffer over the first half of the year from depressed levels of corporate finance activity.
Arbuthnot’s retail banking division, Secure Trust Bank, is expected to have performed strongly over the year due to the acquisition of two books of instalment loans.
But the group warned that full-year performance at Arbuthnot Latham, its private banking arm, would be affected by the start-up costs associated with Gilliat Financial Solutions, the new structured products distribution venture it launched in August last year. Arbuthnot is due to release preliminary results on 11 March.