Rathbones ends ‘challenging’ year with a dividend hike
Investment management giant Rathbones finished a ‘challenging’ 2020 with £54.7bn funds under management, the firm said this morning, after enjoying growth of 8.5 per cent last year.
The firm’s underlying profit before tax increased by 4.3 per cent to £92.5m, meanwhile its funds business soared 32.4 per cent to £9.8bn.
Chief executive Paul Stockton said: “Rathbones delivered a resilient performance in an immensely challenging year.
“2020 marks the 11th consecutive year in which we have increased our total annual dividend.”
The board has recommended a final dividend of 47p for 2020, up 2p from the year before, making a total of 72p for the year and hitting a total increase of 2.9 per cent.
The positive dividend “reflects confidence in the outlook for the business and its strong capital position”, the firm said.
“Whilst we expect 2021 to remain volatile, our balance sheet is robust with a strong capital position. Our near-term focus is to execute our growth strategy, to build our market share, to balance ongoing investment in the business, and to continue to apply strict cost discipline,” Stockton added.
“Rathbones will emerge stronger after the challenges of the pandemic begin to subside.”