The report, published 2 February, showed profit before tax of £500,000 in the year to 30 November 2014, a £1.2m fall from the £1.7m recorded 12 months earlier.
This was in spite of a solid year for the wealth management arm, which saw its discretionary assets under management jump 42.7% from £500m to £700m, while total AUM rose 8.4% to £2.7bn.
Earnings also took a hit as basic earnings per share plummeted from 4.8p to 1.42p in the same time-frame, though the firm’s proposed final dividend rose 33% to 2p per share.
Group revenue hit £30m, up from £29.7m in 2013, and adjusted operating profit excluding ‘one-off’ charges increased from £900,000 to £1.45m. Recurring revenue grew 12.4% to £10m, up from £8.9m the year prior.
In the private wealth division, management fee income jumped 25.6% to £4.9m, a £1m rise on 2013, while commission income rose by 1.8% to £11.3m.
The firm’s corporate broking business took retainer fee income of £3.2m, up from £3m a year earlier, though transaction fees dropped 14% from £5.7m to £4.9m in the same period.
“The new management team has had a busy year in bringing greater focus to both divisions,” said WH Ireland CEO Richard Killingbeck.
“This year of transition has resulted in some ‘one-off’ charges and by their very definition will not be repeated. Adjusting for these ‘one-off’ charges operating profitability would have increased over the figures reported last year.”
