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WH Ireland warns of 'increased loss'
AIM-quoted financial services firm WH Ireland gave investors cause for concern on Thursday morning, as reduced transactions and higher costs led the group to warn of an increased loss from its most recent trading year.
WH Ireland, which trades on a 16-month year, continued its transition to an advice-led, fee-driven model, which now accounts for over 70% of its total assets under management, helping to boost fee income by over 20% year-on-year.
Over the same period, WH's wealth planning team posted a 50% growth in fees; however, execution-only assets "declined significantly" as the group introduced platform fees for the service.
Recurring fee revenue made up more than 60% of total revenue for the division as of 31 March, with its focus now on margin improvement.
Investment costs in regard to the operational platform changes were "higher than expected" during the final four-month period, primarily as the resolution of legacy issues took longer than anticipated to complete.
After a positive 2017, WH Ireland's corporate and institutional broking division saw "much reduced" levels of transaction-based fee income in the final few months of the period
The combination of reduced transactions from the corporate and institutional broking division and the continued high costs seen over at its private wealth management division meant WH Ireland was expecting to see an "increased loss for the 16 month period" from that reported at its second interim 12 month period ended 30 November 2017.
As of 0830 BST, WH Ireland shares had lost 3.82% to 118.30p.