WH Ireland upbeat on trading performance

WH Ireland issued a trading update for the six months to 31 May on Wednesday, along with a change of its accounting reference period.

The AIM-traded company said the first six months of the financial year saw further “significant progression” across the company, with both divisions reporting strong momentum both in absolute terms and also relative to the comparative period a year ago, adding that the first half figures would show a “significant improvement” on those for the previous year.

It said its corporate and institutional broking division witnessed a “significant increase” in transactional revenue, accelerating the client-driven activity it witnessed in the second half of last year.

“Our pipeline of new business is at the highest that it has been for several years reflecting not just an increased appetite for new issuance by existing clients, but also the result of new growth initiatives within the division beginning to contribute to revenue,” the WH Ireland board said in its statement.

The private wealth management division continued to develop its client proposition around advice and fee-related business, the board explained.

Its wealth planning business reportedly had a “particularly strong” first half.

At the interim period end, WH Ireland’s assets under management and administration had increased to in excess of £3bn, of which the fastest growing service proposition remained its discretionary fund management service.

“The board remains cautiously optimistic in relation to the rest of the period despite the obvious headwinds around both UK politics and the economy,” the board said of the company’s outlook.

WH Ireland also confirmed that it had agreed to change its accounting reference date, with immediate effect, to 31 March from 30 November.

As a result, the company would release its unaudited interim results for the six month period ending 31 May on or around 24 July 2017, and a second set of unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 November by the end of January 2018.

The company's final results for the 16 month period ending 31 March would be released by the end of June 2018.

Following that transitional 16 month period, the company would look to report its six month unaudited interim results to 30 September 2018 or before 30 November 2018, with its audited final results for the year ending 31 March 2019 to be announced on or before 30 June 2019, with the same timetable in subsequent periods.