Profits rose at the UK private bank both on an underlying and headline basis last year.

Arbuthnot Latham, the private banking arm of London-listed Arbuthnot Group, has reported pre-tax profit for 2016 of £9.1 million ($11.4 million), a surge of 51 per cent on a year earlier.

The bank said the profit rise proved that “continued investments being made in the bank are showing returns”. However, one-off effects exaggerated the size of the rise. The bank said much of the cost of investments in 2016 - £1.4 million - were covered by the gain it enjoyed following the acquisition of Visa Europe by Visa. As a result, the underlying profit for the year was £8.8 million compared to £7.8 million in 2015. 

The number of private bankers now stands at 36, Arbuthnot Latham continued. Its private banking loan book grew to £683 million, up from £619 million in 2015, while deposits were £947 million, from £897 million. 

Assets under management rose 25 per cent last year, ending at £920 million, Arbuthnot Latham said.

The bank said recent acquisition agreements were on track. In December last year, for example, it agreed to acquire Renaissance Asset Finance, a UK-based firm that provides finance for a range of specialist assets, for an undisclosed amount. Separately, the firm reached a deal with UK private bank Duncan Lawrie to purchase the latter’s loan portfolio for approximately £45 million, with certain deferred items to be factored in. This represented a discount of 5 per cent on the par value of the loans. That portfolio has been “fully transferred” and is “expected to be a good source of new introductions to the clients of Duncan Lawrie as they wind down their deposit portfolio”, it said.

Arbuthnot Latham last year also bought the long leasehold of 20 King Street, a prominent office building in the heart of the West End, for £53.3 million including all associated transaction costs. The building is currently fully occupied but in time is expected to be partly used as a West End office for the bank.