Quilter full-year profits beat market expectations

Wealth manager Quilter posted a better-than-expected full-year profit on Wednesday as it said investor sentiment was expected to recover this year.

In the year to 31 December 2022, adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £134m from £138m a year earlier, but this was comfortably ahead of consensus expectations of £113m.

Assets under management and administration declined to £99.6bn from £111.8m. Quilter said £14bn of negative market movements had more than offset net inflows of £1.8bn.

Quilter Investment Platform net inflows came in at £2.2bn, down from £3.5bn in 2021 and reflecting "an industry wide slowdown in gross flows," it said.

Chief executive Steven Levin said: "The group delivered a robust set of results during 2022 against the backdrop of a recessionary global economic environment, with higher inflation, which reduced the value attributed to equity and bond investments. Accordingly, investor sentiment for wealth and savings solutions reduced during the year."

However, Levin said investor sentiment is expected to slowly recover this year, "supporting a gradual improvement in IFA net flows coupled with another strong net flow performance from the Quilter Channel and a solid out-turn from our High Net Worth segment".

At 0840 GMT, the shares were up 5.8% at 94.28p.