WH Ireland has withdrawn its wealth management arm from the market after failing to find a buyer, it said on 12 August in a 12 months results statement to March 2024.
Although there was interest from a number of buyers, WH Ireland said none came to fruition as it reported overall revenue dropped nearly one fifth (19.6%) from £26.7m to £21.5m.
“During the year a number of potential buyers approached us in respect of a purchase of the WM division and where it was appropriate these were actively pursued. However, none of these discussions resulted in a transaction”, the statement said.
A £5.9m statutory loss before tax was also recorded, up from £1.8m a year prior, partly a result of an increase in restructuring costs of £2.9m.
WH Ireland did sell its capital markets division, completing on the deal to Zeus Capital in July.
WH Ireland’s CEO Phillip Wale said: “While the FTSE 100 has been relatively resilient, the AIM All Share Index fell 9% over the period.
“These market conditions severely impacted transactional business (and particularly fundraisings) in the capital markets division, which, together with significant restructuring costs, were the principal reason for the group reporting losses for the year,” he added.
Alongside the revenue from the sale of its capital markets division, WH Ireland said it hoped that the impact of its cost cutting programme implemented earlier this year will provide it with “an improved chance of returning the continuing wealth management division to a break-even position”.
He added: “Having completed the sale of the capital markets division in July 2024, we have achieved a more stable financial position for the group against the current market backdrop.
“We are now implementing plans for the growth of the remaining wealth management business to return it to break even whilst finding further efficiencies in the group as a whole.”
