WH Ireland is a financial services company offering Private Wealth Management, Wealth Planning and Corporate Broking services. The Private Wealth arm provides discretionary, advisory and execution only services to individuals, corporates, trusts and funds. By offering a highly personal, bespoke service we are able to provide timely advice and create long term relationships based on trust.

Our Corporate Broking division provides Corporate Finance, Research, Market Making and Fund raising capabilities to quoted small/mid-cap companies. We offer a full NOMAD service to the majority of our corporate clients.

We firmly believe that by placing our client needs at the centre of everything we do, WH Ireland is well placed to provide timely, bespoke and helpful advice to a diverse range of clients.


http://www.wh-ireland.co.uk/

From IC today - Investors will have to wait a few more weeks to find out how well WH Ireland traded in the financial year to November 2012, but on the basis that the company was profitable at the half-year stage and boosted turnover from £23.2m to £25m in the 12-month period, there should be enough positives from the results announcement to think that profits will be on an upward curve again in the current year to November 2013.

Moreover, since net cash of £3.1m accounts for a quarter of shareholders' funds of £12.5m, and the market value of the company is only modestly higher at £14.5m, the shares are rated at a level where any good news on profits and prospects should be well received by investors. In fact, having posted half-year adjusted EPS of 2.12p, even if WH Ireland only matches the second-half performance from the prior year when it reported adjusted EPS of 3.18p, the rolling 12-month PE ratio is less than 10 once you strip out a cash pile worth 13p a share. At 62p, I am happy to hold WH Ireland shares for recovery.

not doing very much.

On the bounce up near on 7.5% today.

Half Year Results

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4635035

WH Ireland drops as profits tank

Fri, 19 July 2013




WH Ireland, the AIM-listed financial services group serving the smaller company market, saw shares fall sharply on Friday after the company reported that profits more than halved in its first half.

Pre-tax profit totalled just £0.06m in the six months to May 31st, down from £0.19m the year before, as the bottom line was hit by £0.15m fair value losses on investments, compared with £0.07m gains previously.

Group revenue rose just 3.6% to £13.1m, as an 18% increase in turnover in the Private Wealth Management division (to £1.3m) was offset by a 23.3% fall in the Corporate Broking unit (to £0.9m).

"The board is pleased with the progress that has been made during the period, although this is not yet fully reflected in the group's financial performance," said Chairman Rupert Lowe.

Private Wealth Management was strengthened by the acquisition of the Seymour Pierce private client business part way through the first half. This helped funds under management jumped by 31.9% during the six-month period to £2.27bn.

"Despite the wider challenges that the sector faces at present, the board is pleased with WH Ireland's strong position and is optimistic about the medium and longer term growth prospects for the group," Lowe said.

The stock was down 6.99% at 57.2p.

I like these but am getting a bit bored of waiting.

Should they be merging with Panmure?

Simon T of IC is putting together an investment case perhaps in the next week or so, once analysts have reported. I will wait and see what he thinks.

Found this on the IC site, a couple of weeks old.



What's happening at WH Ireland?

The last we heard, WH Ireland had shaken off the attentions of Blue Oar Securities (which subsequently went on to acquire Astaire & Partners) and pulled in some new investors amidst some shareholder opposition. But what's been happening since? And how are the brokers planning to fight against the reverberations of the credit crunch?

"We are not interested in the next six months," answers new key shareholder Rupert Lowe. "We are on a long-term play."

This explains WH Ireland's unwillingness to get involved in bid talks - unlike its peers - and its silence since (also unlike its peers). Mr Lowe adds that he feels that WH Ireland is more than just a small cap broker, and now that the group is not plagued by bid talks, management can focus on building it into the global player they aspire it to be.

A new chief executive - asset and fund manager Richard Ford - has been installed to replace Laurie Beevers (who takes up the role of executive deputy chairman), and Mr Lowe says there will be a "thorough review" of WH Ireland's business. Considering Mr Ford's forte, it no surprise that fund and asset management will be high - if not top - on the list of priorities.

Mr Lowe assures that there is a market for an "independent but strong broker and fund and wealth manager", adding that with the new shareholders' connections it shouldn't be difficult to find good new staff.

Another big priority is Australia. WH Ireland has a lucrative fund management business there that is growing on the back of Australia's booming mining sector.

The group is seeking to strengthen its position in Perth and the east coast of the country, including a possible acquisition in the region that may not be too far off. There will also be moves to increase the business flow between London and Perth.

This is all very exciting, but its important to remember that these plans have not yet commenced. The new investors are indeed well connected, and respected, businessmen, and it will be interesting to see whether WH Ireland can use its blossoming fund management activities as a cushion against its declining stockbroking business and as a tool for future growth.

Who are the new investors?

The 'new' shareholders consist of a consortium led by former Tory treasurer Lord Marland, and include Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross and City businessmen Rupert Lowe and David Whelan. The consortium acquired 9.94 per cent of the group from a party of existing shareholders including Mr Beevers on 1 April. By 14 May, the consortium had managed to win approvals to increase their collective stake in the broker to 25 per cent.

Lord Marland and Rupert Lowe were subsequently appointed to the WH Ireland board with Roland Rudd slated to be its next non-executive director, subject to necessary approvals.

WH Ireland is obviously still in something of a state of flux and the confidence of its management in such tough equity markets is bold to say the least. Investing in any of the small cap brokers now would be an extremely brave move so WH Ireland is probably best left on the watch list for now.

Simon T from IC today -

Broking for a successful recovery

Shares in private wealth manager and corporate broking house WH Ireland

(WHI: 61p) are little changed since I last updated the investment case in mid-May, but I still believe they are worth picking up at this depressed level. In fact, no matter which way I look at the valuation – both on an earnings or sum-of-the-parts basis - the shares are glaringly undervalued.

For starters, the small cap company has solid asset backing. Net of £2m of borrowings and finance leases, cash at the end of May was £6.7m, or the equivalent of 28p a share. That’s almost half the share price. In addition, John Borgars at equity research house Equity Development estimates that the company’s head office is worth £3m net of a mortgage secured on the building. In other words WH Ireland’s net cash and property assets (of £5.5m) are worth a combined £12.2m, or 51p a share. That’s a significant sum given the company’s share price is only 61p.


Operational progress

Moreover, it’s not as if WH Ireland isn’t making progress operationally. In fact, in the financial year to end-November 2012, turnover hit a record £25.1m, including an increasing amount of recurring revenue as the company grows its wealth management side. In the latest half year revenues grew a further 4 per cent to £13m.

Assets under management and administration (AUMA) have shot up by £550m since the end of November to £2.27bn. Half of the rise in AUMA is accounted for by WH Ireland’s acquisition of the private wealth management business of investment bank Seymour Pierce, which was placed into administration in February 2013. Those assets under management acquired generated a £200,000 profit in the year to 30 September 2012, but WH Ireland was able to buy this business from the administrators for a paltry £25,000. The wealth management unit generated revenues of £8.4m in the six months to end May, up from £7.1m at the same stage in 2012, to produce profits of £2.14m, a rise of £270,000. This profit contribution excludes central overheads. But the real benefits from the acquisition will be seen in the second half to end November once all of the former Seymour Pierce clients are transferred over to WH Ireland’s own platform, which will remove the double running costs and generate significant cost savings.

True, half-year profits slid from £1m to £520,000 in the company’s corporate broking business, reflecting the lack of fundraisings on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim). WH Ireland is the third largest NOMAD on the junior market with 88 clients, or 8 per cent of the 1087 companies traded on Aim. Ultimately, prospects for this unit are dependent on deal activity/IPOs, both of which are difficult to predict. That said half of the division’s revenues are now recurring, a large increase on six months ago, and the company is closing in on its near-term objective of being able to cover all its direct operating costs from recurring income alone. In any case, even factoring in the lacklustre performance of the corporate broking unit, the shares are still too lowly rated.


Compelling valuation

According to analysts at Equity Development the company should still be able to make pre-tax profits of £750,000 for the full year and, with the benefit of a negligible tax charge, that produces EPS of 3.2p. So, having posted a modest profit in the first six months of the financial year, we can expect a major uplift in the second half as the benefits of the Seymour Pierce acquisition feed through. It also means that full-year results will compare very favourably with last year when WH Ireland posted a reported loss of £177,000.

Moreover, the cash rich balance sheet means the 0.75p a share dividend forecast by Equity Development, covered over four times by prospective earnings, looks a very realistic possibility. Last year the board announced a payout of 0.5p a share. On that basis, the shares offer a prospective yield of around 1.3 per cent and are rated on a modest 10 times full-year earnings estimates net of cash. And if you strip out the integration costs of the aforementioned acquisitions, then that EPS estimate is nearer 4p. The shares are also only priced on 1.2 times book value even though there is hidden value in the balance sheet.

That’s because even if you attribute no value at all to the company’s corporate broking division, then WH Ireland’s wealth management business is being valued on a miserly 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of its AUMA by my calculations. By comparison, Rathbone Brothers is valued on 3.4 per cent of assets under management (AUM) while Brewin Dolphin is rated on around 1.8 per cent. In my view, a far more realistic valuation of WH Ireland’s wealth management business would be around 1 per cent of its AUMA – or £22.7m – even factoring in a discount for the fact the company is Aim-traded, lacks the economies of scale of its larger rivals, and the discretionary AUM of its rivals are far more lucrative, and so warrant a much higher valuation, than execution-only or advisory funds that WH Ireland largely manages.

To put the scale of the undervaluation into some perspective, at the current share price WH Ireland is only being valued at £14.4m. And don’t forget that WH Ireland also has net cash and property worth £12.2m. So with the benefits of the integration of the Seymour Pierce client acquisition likely to be seen in the second half, and with a rock solid balance sheet behind it, I continue to rate shares in WH Ireland a medium-term value buy trading on a bid offer spread of 57p to 61p. Even at 90p, the shares would not be expensive. Buy.

At long last, seems to be moving.

In IC this week - The shares are glaringly undervalued. The company's head office is worth £3m net of mortgage secured on the building. In other words WH Ireland's net cash and property assets of £5.5m are worth a combined £12.2m, or 51p a share. That's a significant sum given the company's share price is only 65p.
We can expect a major uplift in the second half as benefits of the Symour Pierce acquisition feed through. Even at 90p the shares would not be expensive.

Ticking up. up 3%

:-))

Trading Update

RNS


RNS Number : 9260V

W.H. Ireland Group PLC

19 December 2013






WH Ireland Group plc

("WH Ireland" or the "Group")



Trading Update



The Board of WH Ireland is pleased to be able to provide a trading update for the 12 month period to November 30 2013.



The Private Wealth Management and Corporate Broking divisions have performed strongly during the second half of the year, and will thus result in revenue and profit before tax for the Group exceeding market expectations. These results will have been achieved after substantial one off costs incurred during the year.



The Board looks forward to the year ahead with increasing confidence.



Full year results will be released at the end of February 2014.

Simon T of IC today -

Applying a modest liquidity discount to this valuation, given WH Ireland’s smaller scale, and backed by a rock solid balance sheet, I have upgraded my fair value target to 120p

A buy in this weeks midas tip.

Closed up 15%

Nice on DC.

Cheers skinny.

Final Results

RNS


RNS Number : 9320A

W.H. Ireland Group PLC

26 February 2014






WH Ireland Group plc

("WH Ireland", "the Group" or "the Company")



Final Results



WH Ireland, the financial services group that provides corporate broking and private wealth management services, today announces its final results for its financial year ended 30 November 2013.



Financial Highlights:



· Revenue increased by 18.2% to £29.7m (2012: £25.1m)

· Recurring revenue increased by 32% to £8.9m (2012: £6.8m)

· Profit before tax £1.7m (2012: loss before tax £0.2m)

· Basic earnings per share of 4.80p (2012: loss 0.89p)

· Proposed final dividend of 1.5p (2012: 0.5p)



Corporate Broking:



· Continued growth in the number of Corporate Broking clients to 85 (2012: 83)

· Fund raisings totalled £102m (2012: £116m) in 21 transactions (2012: 25)

· M&A transactions valued at £138m completed

· Market making revenue and secondary commission both increased



Private Wealth Management:



· Funds under management and administration rose by 43% to £2.5bn (2012: £1.7bn)

· Acquisition of the former Seymour Pierce client list in February 2013 added over £300m of assets

· Continuing to be active in seeking to recruit or acquire individuals or teams

· Isle of Man office opened (see separate announcement issued today)



Richard Killingbeck, Chief Executive Officer, said:



"For the first time since the financial crisis, the Group is now operating in more benign markets, albeit the environment remains highly competitive and subject to much regulatory change and consolidation."



"The current year has started well and the number of corporate clients that we advise has risen further, which is driving a good pipeline of corporate transactions. Our assets under management and administration have continued to grow boosted by stronger markets. We are also seeing some interesting opportunities to expand the reach of our Private Wealth Management business through new office openings such as in the Isle of Man and through recruitment."



"Overall, we are focusing on delivering our strategic plan to develop further both divisions and thereby deliver strong shareholder returns. We look forward to the year ahead with confidence."



In accordance with Rule 20 of the AIM Rules, WH Ireland Group plc confirms that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 30 November 2013, including notice of the Company's annual general meeting to be held at 10.00am on 25 March 2014, will today be posted to shareholders. The report will be available, in electronic form, for download on the Company's website: www.wh-ireland.co.uk.

LISTEN: Richard Killingbeck, CEO of WH Ireland, discusses the final results for the year ended 30 November 2013

Click here to listen