Sir David Howard, the company’s chairman, descriptively said: “This is really no more than a sort of tax which is levied on us in a way, and in amounts, that we can’t plan for.”
The amount demanded in the latest half-year – which represents the six months to the end of September – was up from £600,000 in the first half of the previous financial year.
In its interim results released this morning, Charles Stanley also referred to its investment and progress relating to the launch of Charles Stanley Direct headed up by Rob Hudson and with Ben Yearsley as head of investment research, Charles Stanley Direct.
Funds under management and administration rose in the half-year ending on 30 September to £15.6bn, up from £13.7bn at the same time last year. Of these, discretionary funds under management account for £5.4bn, a 22.7% increase from £4.4bn last year.
Partly through some of the reasons above, revenues were down by 0.8%, to £59.7m, as was pre-tax profit, down 34.6% to £3.4m, and earnings per share, a 29.3% drop to six pence.
Howard concluded: “Poor economic and market conditions continue to overshadow many financial companies, and we are no exception. It is likely that the decline in our commission income is a persistent long-term decline, as managed clients move over to fee-based charging structures in the new environment.
“Our strategy of switching emphasis increasingly to investment management and administration services, earning steadier fee income, has gone a long way to protecting our revenue streams.”
