Brewin Dolphin delivers record quarter

Wealth manager Brewin Dolphin is seeing the benefits of a major restructuring across the business with latest quarterly income rising to record levels. The company, which employs about 200 in Edinburgh and around 50 more across offices in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee, saw income in the third quarter of its financial year increase by 8.4 per cent to £77.3 million. Total funds under management rose 3.7 per cent during the quarter to reach £39.2 billion.

In recent years the firm has shifted its focus from being a stockbroker to a wealth manager with chief executive David Nicol overseeing moves including the sale of its execution-only business, Stocktrade, to Alliance Trust and the purchase of Duncan Lawrie Asset Management.

Nicol said the second half of the year had started well and the integration of the Duncan Lawrie business was delivering benefits.

“We continue to make steady progress in delivering against our long-term growth strategy and our confidence in the future is underpinned by our robust financial position,” he added.

Jonathan Goslin at Numis, who has a “hold” rating on Brewin Dolphin’s shares, said: “Although we believe the ongoing restructuring is the right approach and we generally like the wealth management industry, we believe much of this is already reflected in its current valuation and we remain mindful of the impact such an aggressive restructuring can have on earnings.” 0 ‘Steady progress’ - chief executive David Nicol