Brewin profits up despite red tape burden

The group, which has offices in Leeds, York and Bradford, said profits excluding redundancy costs, contract renewal payments and the amortisation of client relationships rose 25 per cent to 40.2m for the year to September 26.

The company said the year had seen a "material rise" in the costs of regulation as authorities shake up the selling of financial services after the financial crisis.

Executive chairman Jamie Matheson said the company had to accept that costs have increased and deal with it.

"Regulatory costs are now six per cent of turnover. They were three or four per cent previously," he said.

"The financial industry is being affected by the regulatory backlash, you just have to deal with it."

He added that the impact of regulation upon the business is unlikely to reduce in the foreseeable future.

"It is our view that we have a duty to participate fully in any forums that can influence the shape of future regulation," he said.

"In particular, we remain concerned about the 'one size fits all' approach which is more appropriate to businesses that merely sell financial products rather than businesses like ours, whose principal activity is providing advice and service to our clients."

Mr Matheson described the group's three Yorkshire offices as an important part of the network and said they had played a significant role in what has been a "good year" for the company.

Michael Craven, divisional director at Brewin Dolphin in Leeds, added: "The Leeds office showed a strong performance with gross income rising by 21 per cent. This reflects the continued flow of funds seeking worthwhile returns with cash yielding so little.

"A further aspect of the growth being seen is a strong build-up of assets managed on behalf of clients of independent financial advisers.

"Having previously recruited new teams, this has helped the strong growth. Opportunities to expand the office further will always be considered."

After exceptional costs, pre-tax profits increased by 43 per cent to 31.4m.

The investment management business, which accounted for 96 per cent of group turnover, saw an 18 per cent rise in revenues while total funds under management increased by 13 per cent to 23.2bn.

The company also said it is proposing a final dividend of 3.55p per share, bringing the total dividend for the period to 7.1p, in line with last year.

Mr Matheson said the investment management business proved resilient in the turbulent market conditions seen during the 2009 financial year and has made material progress in more recent steadier times.

"While we do not take this for granted, we are conscious that this gives our clients added confidence in our approach. We continue to believe strongly in the merits of long term equity investment with proper recognition of the value of dividends."

The group said its network of offices is now of a size to give it comprehensive coverage of most of the UK, and is therefore unlikely to be expanded significantly.

It opened one new branch during the year in Shrewsbury.

The corporate advisory & broking division returned an operating profit of 1.5m over the year.

"This is all the more satisfactory given that the level of corporate activity throughout the year was consistently lower than had been expected," said Mr Matheson.

He said it would be foolhardy to rule out further unforeseen market events, but it would appear that there is a growing realisation that prudent financial management and the merits of equity over debt finance are a fundamental key to economic growth.

"In particular we believe that this view is strongly held in the UK and this leads us to look to the future with optimism," he said.

There was one change to the composition of the board during the year with the appointment of Henry Algeo in July.

Mr Algeo is the regional managing director for Scotland and the North West.

Deputy chairman and senior independent non-executive director Nick Hood has indicated his intention to retire from the Board at the group's AGM in February 2012.

The single Brewin Dolphin brand was adopted group wide in March 2009.

Founding father of stock exchange

Brewin Dolphin is one of the UK's largest independent private client investment managers.

It has 41 offices across the UK and Channel Islands offering a wide range of financial services and has over 23bn under management.

It has a long track record of serving private clients, trusts, charities and pension funds.

The origins of the firm go back two and a half centuries. It can trace its beginnings back to the mid 18th Century and was one of the founding firms of the London Stock Exchange.

Its history spans the Napoleonic Wars, two World Wars, the Great Depression and other periods of severe stock market turmoil.

A number of stockbroking firms have come together over the years to create the present day Brewin Dolphin as it has joined forces with a number of other leading financial names.

In 1998, the Northern firm Wise Speke joined the group, followed by Hill Osborne in 2000 and Popes in 2002.