Investec on the front foot

20th May 2010 07:03

International specialist bank and asset manager Investec announced improved earnings and substantially higher assets under management for the year to 31 March.Operating profit before tax rose 8.9% to £432.3m from £396.8m the year before while earnings attributable to shareholders climbed 15% to £309.7m from £269.2m.All divisions except Private Banking saw improvements in operating profits; Private Banking's operating profit slumped 54% to £37m from £80.5m a year earlier.Total third party assets under management increased by 50.7% to £73.6bn. Investec Asset Management recorded inflows of £4.7bn during the reporting period.Tier 1 ratios for Investec plc and Investec Limited improved to 11.3% and 12.1%, respectively, from 10.1% and 10.8%, while the ratio of loans to deposits moved to 76.2% from 103.6% at the end of March 2009.“The business is on the front foot and looking ahead we see good opportunities and growth potential right across the business,” said Stephen Koseff, chief executive officer of Investec.