The UK wealth manager, Brewin Dolphin, has reported a 4.3 per cent dip in annual profits as the costs of a recent restructuring drive have come in to play.

The UK
wealth manager, Brewin Dolphin, has reported a 4.3 per cent dip in annual
profits as the costs of a recent restructuring drive have come in to play.
Still, the firm said its shareholders are in line for a 40 per cent hike in
their final dividend.

Brewin Dolphin, which has been shedding staff and closing
offices throughout this year in a bid to trim its costs, posted a pre-tax
profit of £28.6 million ($46.8 million) for the year to 29 September 2013, down from £29.9 million a
year earlier.

Excluding redundancy costs and one-off items such as
additional FSCS levy, onerous contracts provision, amortisation of client
relationships and disposal of available-for-sale investments, the firm said
that its adjusted pre-tax profits jumped 22 per cent to £52.3 million. In
addition, the firm saw strong growth in its discretionary funds allowing for
its total funds under management to rise 8.9 per cent to £28.2 billion.

Brewin Dolphin proposed a final dividend of 5.05p a share,
up from 3.6p a year ago, bringing the total payout for the year to 8.6p.

“The board is implementing a dividend policy from 2014 based
on a target dividend payout ratio of between 60 to 80 per cent of annual
reported adjusted diluted earnings per share to deliver the new strategic
priority of ensuring that dividends grow in line with underlying adjusted
earnings,” said chief executive David Nicol, who also made a point of stressing
that “discretionary investment management is at the core of Brewin Dolphin’s
business model”.

Brewin Dolphin has over 30 offices throughout the UK and Channel Islands.