WH Ireland PLC said current trading is in line with its expectations of a sustainable return to profit, although it cautioned that markets are challenging.
The wealth management company said assets under management grew by 41% to £2.4bn in the six months to end-September, boosted by the acquisition of Harpsden Wealth Management Ltd.
Underlying pre-tax profit increased to £1.1mln from £0.6mln in the first half of last year, while statutory pre-tax profit declined to £0.3mln from £0.5mln.
Revenue increased 38% to £17.5mln, with the Wealth Management division seeing a rise to £7.8mln from £6.1mln and revenue from the Capital Markets business growing to £9.7mln from £6.5mln.
The group had cash balances of £8.4mln at the period-end, compared with £8.2mln at the end of March.
The purchase of Harpsden has prepared the group well for further acquisitions.
“Whilst larger acquisitions have continued to attract significant interest from a range of market participants, the smaller opportunities remain attractive, particularly for us given the potential for synergies as we transfer assets onto our platform,” the group said.
The Wealth Management operation recorded a 67% jump in discretionary assets under management to £1.2bn, including Harpsden.
Discretionary net inflows at £43mln were described as “encouraging”.
“…we believe the continued integration of Harpsden will allow Wealth Management to further develop and improve its proposition to its customers into the future,” the group said.
The Capital Markets division increased its corporate clients to 86 from 80 during the period, and completed 20 transactions, raising £193mln, including four Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).
The Capital Markets business has a good second-half pipeline, which is dependent on market conditions, the group said.
"WH Ireland has continued to make progress in the first half, maintaining our return to profit and further improving our financial position, despite the overhang of the COVID pandemic,” commented chief executive Phillip Wale.
“We have made a cautious return to our offices, whilst further enhancing our control framework and investing in growth opportunities to increase the customer base of both sides of our business.
"Following the good start reported today, we expect to see continued momentum in the business albeit in somewhat more challenging markets."