Brewin Dolphin sparks mixed analyst reviews

Wealth manager Brewin Dolphin saw its income hit 5 per cent in its first quarter, ahead of new rules preventing the sale of financial products which provide ongoing commission to advisers under the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

Nevertheless, the company said income had increased 13.7 per cent to £67.8 million on the same quarter last year – a “good result” despite admitting that bringing in a new system of charging clients was “slower than anticipated” in the quarter.

In a market update yesterday, the firm said assets under management had held steady at £26 billion in the three months to end of December compared to the previous quarter. Mark Williamson, at analyst Peel Hunt, rated Brewin as a “buy” and said that “some of the headwinds that [it] has faced have abated and commission income has stabilised”.

He added: “Attention is being paid to operational efficiency and the introduction of the new IT platform should in our view unlock significant cost savings and allow Brewin to drive its operating margins up.”

But Owen Jones rated the stock a “sell”, noting that while funds under management held steady, the figure lagged the FTSE 100’s increase of 2.7 per cent, adding that the company was “the most exposed, to the cessation of trail income, of its peers”. Shares dipped 5.5p to 209p.