Profits, revenues and assets under management all rose significantly during 2021 at the France-based firm – one of the several Rothschild bank dynasties.

Paris-based Rothschild & Co this week reported net income, excluding one-off items, of €766 million ($857.9 million) for 2021, surging from €173 million a year before, helped by a jump in operating income and revenue. 

Revenue rose to €2.925 billion, rising 63 per cent on a year ago; operating income surged by 202 per cent to €1.131 billion, the group said in a statement yesterday. 

Within its wealth and asset management arm, the group revenue rose 19 per cent to €593 million, (2020: €499 million) and profit before tax came in at €117 million (2020: €74 million). Assets under management rose 25 per cent to €103.9 billion at the end of last year from a year before, due to a mix of €4.1 billion in net new money, its purchase of Banque Pâris Bertrand (€7.1 billion) and positive market performance (€9.3 billion). (Wealth and asset management comprises its wealth businesses in France, the UK and Channel Islands, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Monaco, Spain and Italy and asset management activity in Europe.)

Performance in the global advisory and merchant banking arms also contributed to the positive overall result, Rothschild & Co said. Global advisory notched up a record full-year revenue number of €1.915 billion, rising 67 per cent; pre-tax profit was €421 million. Merchant Banking reported full-year revenue gains of 169 per cent to €398 million and pre-tax profit of €292 million (2020: €57 million), as a result of substantial realised and unrealised investment gains, combined with further growth in recurring revenues. 

The firm said it proposes a dividend of €3.79 per share, made up of a normal dividend of €1.15 per share, up 29 per cent to reflect its optimism, a special dividend of €1.60 per share – based on the strong results for 2021 as well as an interim dividend of €1.04, already paid in October 2021. Once approval is received, Rothschild & Co intends to launch the previously-announced share buyback of up to €70 million.