City round-up: Rathbones Group; Pebble Group
Funds under management and administration (FUMA) have risen at private wealth management group, Rathbones, which has a key base in the Port of Liverpool Building overlooking the River Mersey.
Figures for the fourth quarter, to December 31, 2024, showed that FUMA stood at £109.2bn, which compares with £108.8bn in the previous quarter, and £105.3bn at the same point a year ago.
They were made up of £93.4bn in the Wealth Management segment and £15.8bn in the Asset Management segment.
The group posted record gross inflows of £3.2bn in Q4 (Q3 2024: £2.8bn) supported by particularly strong discretionary inflows, offset by outflows of £3.4bn (Q3 2024: £3.4bn) which were partly elevated by a short term increase in withdrawals of funds by existing clients around the UK Autumn Budget.
Total net flows in Rathbones Investment Management discretionary & managed propositions were stronger at £0.4bn (Q3 2024: £0.1bn) reflecting extensive client engagement in a turbulent quarter.
Outflows relating to previous Investec Wealth & Investment (IW&I) investment manager departures reduced materially in Q4 to their lowest level for the year. Investment manager turnover since the announcement of the combination remains low.
Gross inflows, however, continued to be impacted by investment teams committing time to complete the final stages of the client consent process. Net outflows in IW&I were £0.4bn in the final quarter (Q3 2024: £0.3bn).
Looking ahead, the group said the integration of IW&I continues to proceed well, and it has made substantial progress in the integration process, in line with expectations.
The client consent process is well progressed with very encouraging responses, and Rathbones continues to anticipate completing the client migration onto a single operating platform during the first half of 2025.
Priorities for 2025 include completing the migration of IW&I clients while adding marketing and distribution capability to support organic growth opportunities, both directly and in tandem with third-party IFAs.
The preliminary statement of annual results for the year ended December 31, 2024, will be published on Wednesday, February 26.
Analysts from Investment Bank, Panmure Liberum, recommend a ‘Hold’ call on Rathbones stock after today’s update/.
They said: “The process of integrating IW&I continues and synergies are on target’ but that is needed given the dislocation in the client base and the inherent outflows which have occurred.
“It might be another six months until the focus can return to generating new business, in the meantime the net flow position will remain modest.
“Estimates should prove to be resilient enough given cost cutting, client portfolio repositioning and the timing of charging dates, and the shares have materially de-rated over time, but other stocks in the sector – St James’s Place, Quilter, Brooks – offer more interest.”
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Pebble
The board of Pebble Group, the Trafford Park-based corporate promotions specialist, said it anticipates its annual results, for the year to December 31, 2024, will be in line with market expectations.
The figures will be published on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
Group revenue will be circa £125m (FY 23: £124.2m) as the group’s products and services continue to resonate well with clients and partners.
Facilisgroup’s highly attractive EBITDA margins were maintained alongside improved gross margins at Brand Addition.
As a result, the group is expected to deliver Adjusted EBITDA of not less than £16.5m (FY 23: £16.0m). This improvement in the margin translates to operating profit, which is expected to be around £8.4m (FY 23: £8.0m).
Cash generation was slightly ahead of expectations, with group net cash, excluding IFRS 16 liabilities, at December 31, 2024, of £16.5m (December 31, 2023: £15.9m).
This was achieved following cash distributions of £3.4m in FY 24 (FY 23: £1.0m) through the dividend (£2.0m) and ongoing Share Buyback Programme (£1.4m).
At the FY 24 Results announcement, Pebble will provide detail on the progress of its strategy to take advantage of the opportunities in the global promotional products market through its well-capitalised balance sheet and two strong, differentiated businesses and deliver long term shareholder value, it said.
