Harwood WM's assets leap after nine acquisitions

Harwood Wealth Management on Wednesday reported that a "strong" year of growth has seen a sharp rise in assets and the completion of nine acquisitions.

The financial planner and discretionary wealth manager said that, at the close of the year ended 31 October, its assets under influence stood at £4.8bn, a 26% increase over the £3.8bn reported at the same point the year before, while assets under management increased 42% in the same period to £1.7bn from £1.2bn.

Meanwhile, the AIM traded company's profit before tax rose by 63% to £2.0m on a revenue increase of 26% to £32.7m and revenue growth across all three divisions, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 42% to £6.1m.

Chairman Peter Mann said: "It has been another year of strong growth for the group, with EBITDA achieved ahead of the board's expectations set at the start of the year. Our financial success demonstrates the efficacy of Harwood's three-pronged growth strategy and the benefits of building a recognised market position in a fast-consolidating industry."

At 31 October cash and cash equivalents stood at £13.6m, down from £19.0m at the same point the year before, while dividend per share increased by 8% to 3.50p.

The company deployed £10.7m on nine acquisitions throughout the year, a considerable step up when compared with the £2.3m invested on seven acquisitions in the previous financial year.

"The group's growth in revenue was driven by the completion of nine acquisitions over the period, as well as the impact of prior year acquisitions. Acquisitions are a key part of our strategy. We remain very confident that a large pool of opportunities exists, many of which we expect to execute in 2019, continuing to grow the business in scale and capability. We are confident in the group's outlook, with Harwood well positioned to deliver further growth," said Mann.

Harwood Wealth Management's shares were up 2.00% at 147.90p at 1153 GMT.