Arbuthnot Latham Sees Profits Soar

Stephen Little

20 March 2014

UK-headquartered Arbuthnot Banking Group reported an overall group profit before tax increase of 25 per cent to £15.7 million for 2013, driven by a 266 per cent increase in profit in its private banking division.

In its annual statement, the group revealed that profit before tax in its private banking division Arbuthnot Latham was £7.7 million, up from £2.1 million in 2012, while the core private banking and wealth management business delivered a profit of £4.9 million, up from £3.5 million in 2012.

Assets under management in the private banking arm increased 40 per cent to £528 million, up from £377 million in 2012.

Customer loans in the private banking business grew 18 per cent to £341 million, up from £289.3 million in 2012, while customer deposits increased £24 million to £519.7 million.

The private bank had a total capital ratio of 12.8 per cent, up from 12.4 per cent in 2012, and a core tier 1 ratio of 10.5 per cent.

Arbuthnot highlighted two significant transactions that it believes will underpin its long-term growth potential. Firstly, the sale and lease back transaction on the Wilson Street property in London that generated £6.5 million, and secondly, the sale of 580,000 shares in STB on 13 December 2013, resulting in a gain on sale of £14.4 million. The chairman also noted that the launch of its new office in Dubai last year had “exceeded” expectations.

“As mentioned previously, we took the conscious decision to invest for the long-term future. These investments are clearly coming to fruition when I reflect on the momentum that is being generated,” said Henry Angest, chairman and chief executive of Arbuthnot.

“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. 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,” he added.