Tavistock Investments revenue up marginally in first half

Tavistock Investments posted its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 September on Friday, with gross revenues of £16.91m, improving from £15.96m a year ago.

The AIM-traded firm reported adjusted EBITDA of £0.11m, swinging from a loss of £0.06m, with depreciation and amortisation losses of £0.47m improving from losses of £0.69m.

Share-based payment outflows totalled £0.21m, somewhat better than the £0.3m in the first half of the prior year, while acquisition-related costs were £0.12m, compared to gains of £0.23m.

The company’s losses from operations were £0.69m, narrowing from the £0.82m figure it reported this time last year.

“The profitability of the Group's advisory operations, as a whole, was greatly enhanced by the acquisition of Abacus Associates Financial Services in April,” said executive chairman Oliver Cooke.

“The group then employed a specialist recruitment manager to augment the organic growth of the advisory businesses and, during the brief period under review, the number of advisers within Abacus has grown by over 45% to 65.”

Cooke said advisory profitability had been further enhanced after the end of the period under review, by the acquisition of Price Bailey Financial Services in November.

“This acquisition has the added strategic benefit of enabling the group to offer its investment management services to a new audience of higher net worth clients.”

Funds under management reportedly more than doubled over the past year to £690m, with £540m being managed on a discretionary basis.

“Tavistock Wealth, the group's investment management business also trades profitably and despite turbulent market conditions following the Brexit vote, Donald Trump's election, the continued weakening of sterling and a major sell off in bond markets, Tavistock Wealth's range of risk progressive model portfolios has continued to perform well,” Cooke explained.

He said that, having established a successful two-year track-record managing assets for clients of the group's advisory businesses, it was now investing in the personnel and marketing to offer Tavistock Wealth's services to firms outside of the group.

“Whilst it is still too early to have reaped rewards from this investment, early indications are most encouraging.”