City round-up: Rathbones Group; Franchise Brands; Dechra Pharmaceuticals

Rathbones Group, the private wealth manager with a base in Liverpool’s iconic Port of Liverpool Building, has seen an almost 25% increase in total funds under management and administration (FUMA) over the year, it announced today.

They rose from £54.7bn at December 31, 2020, to £68.2bn by December 31, 2021, reflecting continuing net inflows, positive market movement and the acquisition of Saunderson House Limited.

The group also announced that £50.3bn in the Investment Management business was up 12% from £44.9bn at December 31, 2020, while £13bn in Rathbone Funds was up 32.7% from £9.8bn at December 31, 2020, reflecting very strong net inflows. There was £4.9bn of Saunderson House FUMA following completion of the acquisition in October 2021.

The Investment Management business recorded strong gross inflows of £4.5bn for the full year (2020: £3.9bn). Net organic inflows for the year totalled £0.8bn (2020: £nil). Total net inflows of discretionary FUMA in the year were £1.2bn (2020: £0.9bn), which represents a net growth rate of 2.8% (2020: 2.2%).

Rathbone Funds recorded £4.4bn gross inflows for the full year (2020: £3.6bn). Net inflows totalled £2.1bn for the year (2020: £1.5bn) representing an organic growth rate of 21.1% (2020: 20.1%).

The group said it remains in a strong position to continue delivery of strategic initiatives, secure the delivery of its ambitions for Saunderson House, and explore further opportunities to drive growth.

Its annual results for the year to December 31, 2021, will be published on Thursday, February 24.

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Stephen Hemsley

Franchise Brands, the Macclesfield-based multi-brand franchise business, released a trading update for the year to December 31, 2021, today, saying during the fourth quarter the group continued the strong trajectory that has characterised the whole of 2021.

The performance was underpinned by the strong growth at Metro Rod where system sales for the quarter grew by 22% year-on-year to a record of £13.7m. This final quarter performance has meant that full year Metro Rod system sales grew by 24% to a record £50.4m (2020: £40.6m).

Willow Pumps’ service division continues to grow and contributed to the overall business growing sales for the year by 11% to £13.8m, unaudited (2020: £12.4m). However, the supply and install division has been slower to recover.

The Group’s B2C division continues to perform robustly with 57 new recruits year-to-date (2020: 58), with strong cash generation and continued tight cost control.

The acquisition of Azura Group, a franchise management software system developer, in November, represents an important step in the group’s digital journey, giving it ownership of its core systems, which are highly scalable, and the ability to further customise them to meet the needs of the business, its franchisees and customers. It also provides the group with an exciting new growth opportunity.

The strong cash generative nature of the group’s business has allowed the early full repayment of its term loan. At the year end, the group had cash of £9m and an additional £5m of unutilised debt facilities. The strength of the deleveraged balance sheet and high level of liquidity puts the group in a strong position to support its franchisees, invest in the business, support a progressive dividend policy, and take advantage of earnings-enhancing acquisition opportunities.

The final results for the year to December 31, 2021, are expected to be announced on March 3, 2022.

Stephen Hemsley, executive chairman of Franchise Brands, said: “I am very pleased by the 2021 performance of the Metro Rod business. To break through £50m of system sales is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the hard work of our franchisees, our engineers, and the team at the Metro Rod support centre in Macclesfield led by Peter Molloy.

“Although the COVID pandemic continues to impact certain parts of our business, the performance of the group in 2021 demonstrates the strength of our growth strategy and the dedication and commitment of our people. The ability of the group to meet and overcome these challenges means that I look forward to 2022 and beyond with great optimism.”

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Ian Page

Dechra Pharmaceuticals, the Northwich-based vet products group, has agreed terms with Anivive Lifesciences to acquire the worldwide rights to verdinexor, a novel treatment of all forms and stages of canine lymphoma in dogs, for an undisclosed sum.

Under the terms of the deal Dechra will acquire the global product rights and a first right of refusal for other species along with the trademark, Laverdia.

Sales of the product in the USA commenced under the conditional approval in July 2021. Full dossier submissions are planned for USA, UK, EU, Brazil, Australia, Japan and Canada.

Dechra chief executive, Ian Page, said: “We are delighted to acquire the worldwide rights to Laverdia.

“Its addition to our portfolio will expand Dechra into a new, niche therapy area, while also offering veterinarians and dog owners a simple to use, effective medication for lymphoma that extends the time a family has with their pet.”