Quilter plc reports 5% growth in adjusted profit before tax to £115 million and an interim dividend of 1.7 pence per share for the first time.
Other financial highlights include:
Adjusted profit before tax up 5% to £115 million (H1 2018: £110 million), of which:
o £89 million, an increase of 7%, from Quilter excluding Quilter Life Assurance ('QLA') (H1 2018: £83 million); and
o £26 million from QLA (H1 2018: £27 million).
Adjusted diluted earnings per share of 5.5 pence in line with H1 2018, of which:
o 4.1 pence from Quilter excluding QLA (H1 2018: 4.1 pence); and
o 1.4 pence from QLA (H1 2018: 1.4 pence).
Agreed disposal of QLA, subject to regulatory approval, to ReAssure for consideration of £425 million representing 120% of end 2018 own funds (after taking into account dividend payments of £130 million made to Quilter during the course of 2019). The Board is currently minded to undertake a meaningful capital distribution from the net sale proceeds to shareholders with the method of capital return subject to shareholder consultation. We will update on the amount and method of distribution at the closing of the transaction, expected to be late 2019.
IFRS loss before tax attributable to equity holders from continuing operations of £40 million (H1 2018: £nil), principally due to the period on period change in policyholder tax movements.
Interim dividend of 1.7 pence per share.
Operating margin stable at 29% including QLA (26% excluding QLA).
Assets under Management/Administration ('AuMA') up 8% from 31 December 2018 to £118.4 billion (FY 2018: £109.3 billion), of which:
o £108.7 billion, an increase of 9%, from Quilter excluding QLA (FY 2018: £99.3 billion); and
o £12.1 billion, a decrease of 2%, from QLA (FY 2018: £12.4 billion).
Gross sales (excluding QLA) of £6.0 billion (H1 2018: £7.9 billion, H2 2018: £6.3 billion).
Net Client Cash Flow ('NCCF') (excluding QLA) of £0.3 billion (H1 2018: £3.0 billion) with a modest (£0.2 billion) outflow in the second quarter predominantly attributable to the impact of expected client redemptions in Quilter Cheviot of c.£0.8 billion.
Integrated flows (excluding QLA) of £1.3 billion (H1 2018: £2.8 billion).
Solvency II ratio of 181% after payment of interim dividend (FY 2018: 190%).
UK Platform Transformation Programme is making good progress with final software testing in progress and validation of migration data integrity nearing completion. Initial migration expected by early 2020 and full programme expected to complete by around this time next year at an additional cost of approximately £25 million.
Business optimisation and cost saving initiatives progressing well with £11 million of benefits realised for 2019 providing support to the first half operating margin.
