Tolhurst delivers record annual profit
Independent Australian stock broking and financial services group Tolhurst Group Limited has capped its 150th anniversary year with the announcement of a record $4.3m net profit after tax for the 12 months to 30 June 2007.
The Board has declared a final fully franked dividend of 1.3 cents per share, lifting its full-year payout to a record 2.55 cents per share.
The strong earnings performance, which represents a 15% increase on last year’s $3.7m net profit after tax, was achieved on a 33% increase in sales revenue to $62.7m (2006: $47.2m).
Profit before tax increased by 16% to $6.04m (2006: $5.22m). The bottom line profit translated into earnings per share of 3.83 cents (diluted) compared with 3.49 cents previously.
Pre-tax profit increased by 33% to $5.4m (2006: $4.0m) before specific transactions including a $660,000 profit achieved on a private equity transaction in the current year and a $1m profit and related dividends received of $175,000 on the disposal of Melbourne-based broking business Caroll, Pike & Piercy in the previous year.
The strong growth in sales revenue and earnings for the year reflected favourable market conditions, as well as the careful ongoing expansion of the Group’s traditional transactional business and the development of new income streams and business opportunities.
According to Tolhurst, this is an excellent result after what has been an important year of repositioning and growth for Tolhurst. The 2007 financial year saw several exciting developments including the celebration of 150 years in business, coinciding with the launch of a new brand and a renewed commitment to continue to meet the expectations of current and future clients.
The growth of the business and the 2007 financial year result can best be appreciated by looking back to the 2005 result. Over this two-year period, revenue has increased by 71% and profit before tax has increased by 123%.
Key developments during the year included the launch of full-service branch offices in Cairns, Geraldton and Gladstone and the continued development of Tolhurst’s Investment Advisory strategy, with a strong emphasis on Research, Institutional, Corporate Advisory and Wealth Management capabilities.
Tolhurst have taken some important steps in its continued growth strategy as a diversified financial services and wealth management group towards expanding its wealth management capabilities, expanding its corporate presence on the Eastern Seaboard and strengthening the capabilities of its corporate division in mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and structured finance.
During the year, the Company announced the acquisition of the long-established independent investment bank and advisory group InterFinancial, which specialises in mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and providing strategic advice to small and medium-sized organisations in the ASX-listed, unlisted and public sectors. This acquisition was finalised in July 2007.
Following the acquisition of InterFinancial, Tolhurst’s Board was strengthened recently by the appointment of Greg Bundy, who was non-executive Chairman of InterFinancial and previously Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific. Mr Bundy is well known in international and Australian capital markets.
Tolhurst is also continuing to progress the proposed acquisition of long-established independent financial planning group, Community & Corporate Services Ltd (ComCorp), which is part of its ongoing commitment to expand its wealth management capabilities.
24-Aug-2007