Storrie hails ‘best figures’ since taking helm

private bank Adam & Co has seen an uplift in activity across its portfolio of wealthy clients, which has helped contribute to the best profits since Graham Storrie took the helm three years ago.

Graham Storrie: We would like to grow our lending further

Profit before tax for the year to the end of December was up 45 per cent to £16.7 million as transactions rose in volume and value terms. The bottom line also benefited from an 86 per cent fall in impairments to £1m. Revenue fell by 10 per cent to £47m as some clients chose to pay off their loans.

Managing director Storrie said he was “very pleased” with progress at the 170-employee bank, which was able to pay a £25m dividend to its parent, the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The bank offers private banking, investment management and financial planning and has also launched an online service in response to customer demand. More than half (56 per cent) of clients are now banking online, including mobile. In April, the bank launched a credit card.

“We had a credit card gap and it gives us a complete banking proposition,” said Storrie. “We have seen some of our competitors build in one of these areas, but few can offer all services backed up by a digital service.”

The bank remains heavily focused on Scotland with most its employees in Edinburgh and a smaller number in Glasgow and Aberdeen, but it also has offices in London and Manchester. About 140 of the staff work in the private banking and financial planning businesses.

“These are the best figures since I joined the bank,” said Storrie, who is now in his fourth year and wants to see the level of borrowing grow.

“We would like to grow our lending further and that is the focus for 2014. We are off to a good start and our pipeline of new business is healthy.”

The bank’s cost-income ratio, a measure of its operational efficiency, fell slightly from 63.8 per cent to 62.5 per cent, indicating an improvement in cost management and asset growth.

The salary of the highest paid director, assumed to be Storrie, fell slightly from £366,707 to £336,403.