St. James's Place H1 Pre-tax Profit Up 4%; Lifts Dividend - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - St. James's Place plc. (STJ.L), a wealth management group, reported that its first-half IFRS profit before shareholder tax rose 4 percent to 82.5 million pounds from last year's 79.6 million pounds.

Underlying IFRS profit before tax increased 9 percent to 115.4 million pounds from 106.3 million pounds a year ago.

On EEV basis, new business profits increased 27 percent to 437.0 million pounds from 343.0 million pounds last year. EEV operating profit was 489.6 million pounds, up from 397.3 million pounds in the prior-year period.

Gross inflow of funds under management grew 15 percent to 7.9 billion pounds from 6.9 billion pounds a year ago. Net inflow of funds under management was 5.2 billion pounds, 21 percent higher than 4.3 billion pounds last year.

Group funds under management climbed 16 percent to 96.6 billion pounds from 83.0 billion pounds in the same period last year.

Further, the company's board of directors declared a 20 percent increase in the interim dividend to 18.49 pence per share.

Separately, St. James's Place said that David Lamb, Managing Director of Investments, has confirmed that he has decided to retire as a Board Director of the company in early 2019. However, he will continue on a part-time basis to chair the company's Investment Committee.

Robert Gardner will join the Executive Board of the company as Director of Investment Management on 7 January 2019, subject to regulatory approval. He joins St. James's Place from investment consultancy Redington Ltd, which provides St. James's Place with investment consultancy services.