Brewin boss confident despite euro turmoil as profits increase
THE HEAD of Brewin Dolphin said the 250-year-old investment manager could confidently ride out the Eurozone crisis despite rising anxiety over Greece.
Executive chairman Jamie Matheson said Britain is “not immune” to the problems surrounding the single currency but struck an upbeat tone as Brewin posted a 3.3 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £12.3m.
“We are a very UK-centric service business. In realistic terms such a thing [a Greek exit] would have far less of a significant effect on us than other industries,” he told City A.M.
Brewin benefited from a cut in the levy charged by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which was only £553,000 compared to £6.06m in the same period last year. Adjusted pre-tax profits excluding redundancy costs, the levy and amortisation of client relationships dropped by 17.1 per cent to £18.9m.
Total funds under management were up 7.1 per cent at £25.7bn, driven largely by an 11 per cent increase in its discretionary business.