Strong market lifts Rathbones result

RATHBONE Brothers, the private client investment manager, expects further progress this year after reporting a 29 per cent profits advance in 1993.

Last year's strong stock market helped to lift pre-tax profits from pounds 4.1m to pounds 5.25m. Rathbones looks after more than pounds 1bn for about 6,000 clients from its offices in Liverpool and London.

Oliver Stanley, chairman, said that the company's profits had more than doubled in the past five years.

Investment management provided 80 per cent of the profits. The private banking arm contributed about pounds 470,000, and the trustee and financial advisory business made about pounds 575,000.

Earnings per share rose 15 per cent to 18.5p - held back by the issue over the past 18 months of nearly 2 million shares to cover employee share options and to fund acquisitions.

Michael Bryant, marketing director, said Rathbones was making more effort to promote itself, particularly in Liverpool, and was willing to take on smaller portfolios than it had traditionally handled.

Rathbones has taken on some younger investment managers still hungry to develop their own client base. The firm eventually wants to establish itself in the south- west, probably in Bristol or Bath, and in Edinburgh.

A final dividend of 5.5p increases the total by 25 per cent to 7.5p a share.