Ravenscroft has grown its assets under administration to £4.44 billion – an increase of 55% in 12 months.
Its annual report shows that the company, which has offices in Guernsey and Jersey and launched into UK last summer, has increased group revenue by 15% to £20.00m, the first time it has reached £20m since the business started 12 years ago, with recurring revenues up 50% from £7.61m in 2016 to £11.45m in 2017. Gross profit increased by 14% to £17.21m and the board has declared a dividend of 12p per share making an annual dividend of 17p per share.
“These are impressive results which have come about through hard work, a drive to do the very best for our clients and a commitment to ensure that we continue to diversify the company to ensure it can offer investors a choice of investments that will meet their long-term objectives,” said chairman Stephen Lansdown, CBE, who was appointed as chairman in September and formally thanked his predecessor Andy Stewart in his chairman’s statement.
“We have been fortunate to have a rising stock market with the FTSE 100 finishing the year at a record high and the MSCI All-Country World Index rise in every single month for the first time ever. We have however seen volatility in recent months but I am confident that with the team we have that we can continue to deliver above market average returns for our clients.”
Mr Lansdown added that the financial services sector continued to be faced with an ever-increasing regulatory burden.
“This is something that the Ravenscroft board takes very seriously and so there has been a significant investment in our team throughout the year to ensure we have the very best people to continue delivering exceptional service and meet our regulatory obligations. This investment is reflected in our staff numbers increasing by 28% to more than 90 and as a result profit before tax was down slightly from £4.15m to £4.05m.”
As well as launching a treasury service and onshore versions of two of its Huntress funds, the year also saw Ravenscroft backing a management buy-out of D2 Real Estate and acquire a 50% stake in the company to strengthen its property proposition. It also acquired 100% of Guernsey Mint Refined Limited, which trades as BullionRock, to enable it to offer precious metals as an alternative asset class. The financial year ended with Ravenscroft being appointed as investment manager to the Guernsey Investment Fund, which is backed by the States of Guernsey and private investors.
“It really has been an incredible year with a number of highlights which reflect the diversity of the group,” said group chief executive officer Jon Ravenscroft.
“We are now so much more than the stockbroking and investment management company we were a decade ago. Ravenscroft has grown and developed into a business that has an investment option for everyone whether that’s buying a silver bar for your child’s christening, investing money for school fees, weddings and first homes, saving for retirement or buying stocks to grow and protect wealth. The entrepreneurial spirit that set the company apart at the start is still very evident today.”
As a result of the company’s growth, it has recently been announced that as part of a restructure a new listed parent company called Ravenscroft Holdings Limited has been established and has acquired the entire share capital of Ravenscroft Limited.
