In its latest set of results, Arbuthnot Latham posted a £7.7m pre-tax profit figure, a significant increase on the previous year’s £2.1m. Private banking made up £4.9m of this, compared with £3.5m in 2012.
The group noted two significant transactions during the year to underpin its long-term growth potential: the sale and lease back agreement on its new HQ at 7-21 Wilson Street, London, which net profited the group £6.5m just a year later; and the group sold 580,000 shares in STB on 13 December, resulting in a gain on sale of £14.4m.
With growing confidence in the business, the group declared a special dividend of 18p to mark the 180th anniversary of Arbuthnot Latham.
During the year, the AL also opened its Dubai office and agreed a client custody arrangement with Geneva based private bank Pictet, allowing AL clients to use their services in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong, installed a new operating platform for its investment management business and grew its total customer account balances to £1.05bn, from £872.3m last year.
Group financial director James Cobb said: “We have always held a long term ambition to develop our distribution capabilities to cover overseas markets. I feel we reached a major milestone this year, when we opened for business in Dubai."
He added that the predominately wealth management service appears to have been well received by the market in Dubai: "The generation of new business there has exceeded our initial expectations. We have also added further options for our customers who wish to gain exposure to other overseas markets, via our custody arrangements with Pictet, which were initiated during the year.”
