QUILTER’S share price rose to 11 percent yesterday after the financial services group posted a strong performance last year, driven by its new investment platform.
Yesterday, the share price rose to a high of R26.31 in the afternoon trade after the company released its preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2021.
The platform saw net inflows of £3.5bn, up 133 percent in the prior year.
Net inflows to Quilter Investors, the firm's multi-asset business, was £500 million (R9.9 billion) for the year, up 67 percent, primarily driven by an £800m decrease in gross outflows from Cirilium Active "due to improved fund performance", the company said.
Quilter, which was unbundled from Old Mutual plc in 2018, has set a target of £6bn of net inflows per year.
Assets under management and administration (AuMA) increased by 13 percent to £118.8bn at the end of December, up from £99bn compared to last year, with growth supported by improved net flows and positive market movements.
The company declared a final dividend of 3.9 pence per share, an increase from 3.6 pence per share the previous year.
Chief executive Paul Feeney said the group was pleased to be delivering good results in these difficult times with significant geopolitical tensions.
“2021 was an important year for Quilter as we completed our planned strategic evolution through the successful migration of customers and advisers onto our new platform, and completed the sale of Quilter International for £481m. We also demonstrated strong financial performance with more than doubled net inflows of £4bn and achieved revenue growth of 10 percent, while limiting cost growth to 5 percent to deliver adjusted profit growth of 28 percent".
The group reported that its total net fee revenue on a continuing basis increased by 10 percent to £618m.
Quilter said the regulatory and insurance costs had increased by 7 percent to £29m, largely driven by a £4m increase to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme levy.
Quilter Cheviot, the firm's wealth manager, had net inflows of £1.1bn.
"The medium- and long-term performance at Quilter Cheviot continued to outperform relevant ARC benchmarks, remaining first or second quartile, to the end of December 2021," the company said.
Feeney said while the group was pleased with its 2021 performance, the geopolitical tensions that the world faces was at the centre of the company's concerns.
"Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine, and their struggle puts the market volatility we face into an appropriate perspective. Up to the end of February, our year-to-date net inflows were comfortably ahead of the comparable period in 2021, although the conflict in Ukraine is likely to have a bearing on equity and bond markets, investor sentiment, and inflation amongst other factors," he said.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE