Trust merger pays dividends
Financial services groupTrusthas posted a healthy profit in its first full reporting period since being spawned from the merger of Permanent Trustees and Trust Company of Australia last year, attributing the performance to cost synergies stemming from the merger.
Trust posted a net profit for the six months ending August 31 2003 of $5.56 million, with an operating revenue of $32.8 million for the half-year.
Trust managing director Jonathan Sweeney says the performance of the new entity is evidence the merger is going well.
Sweeney says that while it is difficult to compare the merged business to the results pre-merger, when the result is analysed on a per share basis and adjusted for non-operational items, comparisons can be made.
“On this basis, the half year to August 2003 provided a per share result of 18.5 cents versus the prior period’s 12.2 cents which represents a 51 per cent improvement on a per share basis,” Sweeney says.
“This is a good indicator of the value the merger is creating for our shareholders,” he says.
Trust says another indication of the success of the merger is that operational margins in both the August 2002 and 2003 result were similar.
As a result, Trust distributed a fully franked dividend of 17 cents along with a fully franked 15 cent special dividend, largely due to the sale of a property the group owned in Sydney’s suburb of Edgecliff.
Trust says management will now increase focus on growing revenue across the group, with the recent appointment of Anthony Sider as general manager of Trust’s funds management division expected to help towards this end, as the group rolls out its Australian equities capabilities beyond its internal client base.
Recommended for you
ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test.
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.
