UK wealth manager Quilter has just published its interim financial results for the first half of 2023.

Quilter has delivered a 25 per cent rise in adjusted profit and an improved operating margin in the first half of this year.

According to the firm, adjusted profit before tax increased to ÂŁ76 million ($97 million) in 2023, compared with ÂŁ61 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased by 3 per cent to ÂŁ312 million, from ÂŁ303 million a year earlier, supported by revenue generated on corporate cash balances. This was coupled with an increase in the operating margin to 24 per cent, compared with 20 per cent the previous year, the firm continued.

Assets under management and administration reached ÂŁ101.7 billion at the end of June 2023, climbing by 2 per cent since the end of 2022, from ÂŁ99.6 billion, principally due to positive market movements of ÂŁ1.9 billion and core business gross inflows of ÂŁ5.5 billion in the first half which were evenly spread between each quarter.

Core net inflows in the first half were ÂŁ0.7 billion, reflecting a good performance from the Quilter channel in both high net worth and affluent with a more muted performance from its IFA/Direct channels across both segments. The high net worth segment delivered a steady income performance with a modest increase in revenue margin, supported by the contribution from interest margin, the firm said. Market share of gross platform flows increased in both quarters. Notably, second quarter flows were up 5 per cent year-on-year, in spite of a 9 per cent decline in the overall market over the same period.

“We have delivered a strong improvement in first half profitability, pleasing flow outcomes in the Quilter channel and improved our market share of new advised platform flows. Our business model is fully aligned with the principles of the Consumer Duty regime and my focus is on doing more for our customers to improve business momentum in the near term, and deliver faster growth and higher returns to shareholders in the longer term. We are targeting an additional ÂŁ50 million of Simplification savings by 2025 and we expect consensus profit estimates for this year to increase materially,” CEO Steven Levin said. 

Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 34 per cent to 4.3 pence, supported by its share count reduction from our capital return programme in 2022, the firm added. The interim dividend is 1.5 pence per share versus 1.2 pence per share for 2022, representing an increase of 25 per cent. The solvency II ratio reaches 240 per cent after payment of the interim dividend.