Collins Stewart’s profits climb
FINANCIAL services group Collins Stewart continues to tread with caution in tricky market conditions, despite receiving a boost over the first half of the year from its wealth management and corporate finance divisions.
Collins Stewart said yesterday that pre-tax profit for the six months to June rose 6.6 per cent to £6.5m, on revenues which inched up to £96.1m from £95.3m in the first half of 2009.
Chief executive Mark Brown said he was pleased with progress at the group’s wealth management arm, which acquired two smaller rivals, Corazon and Andersen Charnley, over the period. Assets under management grew to £6.8bn at the end of the six months, more than a third higher than at the end of the same period in 2009 and a significant step towards the group’s target of £10bn of assets under management by 2012.
Revenue at the asset management division rose 2.7 per cent to £22.6m over the period. Hawkpoint – Collins Stewart’s corporate advisory business – grew its revenue by a third to £16.7m, boosted by a number of high-profile mandates, including advising Iceland on its banking restructure.
But the group’s market-related activities suffered as investors fled on concerns over a double dip recession.