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St James's Place sees serious growth in 2017
Wealth management group St. James's Place issued its annual results for the year ended 31 December on Wednesday, reporting European embedded value (EEV) new business profit of £779.8m - a 50% improvement year-on-year.
The FTSE 100 company said its EEV operating profit was ahead 36% at £918.5m, while IFRS profit before shareholder tax was up 32% to £186.1m.
Its operating cash result, post-tax, was £315.2m - up 39% on the 2016 result - while its underlying cash result, also post-tax, was an improvement of 41% to £281.2m.
Underlying cash earnings per share grew 40% to 53.6p.
The board recommended a final dividend of 27.45p per share, up 33%, which would make for a full year dividend of 42.86p per share - growth of 30% from 2016's distribution of 33p per share.
Looking at its operational highlights, St. James's Place said it saw record gross inflows of £14.6bn during the year, compared with £11.4bn in 2016.
Its net inflow of funds under management grew to £9.5bn from £6.8bn, with funds under management totalling £90.7bn, compared to £75.3bn at the end of 2016.
The company said it was now represented by 3,661 qualified advisers across its partnership businesses.
"As we announced in January, during 2017 we achieved record gross inflows which at £14.6bn were up 29% whilst net inflows were up 40% to £9.5bn, reflecting the continued strong retention of existing client investments," said chief executive Andrew Croft.
"These net flows, together with strong investment returns, increased the funds we manage on behalf of our clients by 20% over the year to close at an all-time high of £90.7bn."
Croft said he was "very pleased" to confirm that the record new business performance was reflected in the firm's strong financial performance across all measures.
"Given the strong performance of the business, the board has proposed a final dividend of 27.45p per share, up 33%, which brings the full year dividend to 42.86p per share, up 30%.
"I believe there are great opportunities ahead for St. James's Place," Croft added.
He said the firm's core target market was already large and forecast to grow further still, driven by favourable demographic trends and the accumulation of investable assets as savers took on the responsibility for providing for their own well-being in retirement.
"Meanwhile, the environment for UK savers seeking to plan their long-term financial affairs has rarely felt more difficult whether due to complexities around personal taxation, pensions freedoms, or the implications of a sustained low interest rate environment.
"As a result, demand for trusted, personal face-to-face advice has never been greater," Croft claimed.
He said that, with the company's focus on developing long-term relationships to span client generations, its advisers could provide a level of tailored and expert advice that clients valued.
"Allied with our distinct investment management approach that offers clients access to best-in-class fund managers from around the world, we have a clear and compelling client proposition that I believe stands St. James's Place in great stead to capture the market opportunities ahead.
"Our continuing focus on achieving the best possible outcomes for our clients, through the provision of sound personal financial advice, together with our distinctive approach to the management of their wealth, gives us confidence that we will continue to grow our business, in line with our stated medium-term objective of 15 -20%, in 2018 and beyond."