Rathbones Group PLC on Wednesday unveiled a sharp rise in assets under management, but a fall in profit thanks to the addition of the UK wealth business of Investec PLC.

The London-based investment and wealth management said total funds under management and administration reached £105.3 billion in 2023, rising from £60.2 billion. This included £42.2 billion from Investec Wealth & Investment UK.

But acquisition and integration costs related to the combination, along with higher amortisation charges following the deal, saw pretax profit fall 10% to £57.6 million from £64.1 million. Earnings per share declined to 52.6 pence from 83.6p.

Last September, Rathbones completed an all-share combination with IW&I to create the ‘UK’s leading discretionary wealth manager’.

Rathbones said operating income rose 25% to £571.1 million in 2023 from £455.9 million the year before.

Underlying pretax profit increased 31% to £127.1 million from £97.1 million, including a £25.4 million contribution from IW&I in the final quarter. The underlying operating margin climbed to 22.3% from 21.3%, including the planned £14.4 million digital investment.

Chief Executive Paul Stockton said 2023 was a ‘transformational year’.

He said the integration of IW&I was ‘progressing well’ and had brought together a group of ‘like-minded teams’.

‘Recent indicators that interest rates may fall in the medium term should be positive for equity markets and increase client confidence to invest,’ Rathbones commented, adding this in turn ‘should be positive for net organic growth rates and the group as a whole’.

Rathbones declared a final dividend of 24p for 2023, down from 56p last year, making a total payout of 87p, up 3.6% from 84p before.

Shares in Rathbones rose 0.7% to 1,560p in London on Tuesday morning.

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