The Trust Company earnings up

The Trust Company has reported an increase in operating earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBITDA) of 13 per cent to $17.7 million for its financial year ended February 28, 2011.

In a statement released to the Australian Securities Exchange, The Trust Company noted strong revenue growth in corporate client services, while performance of its personal client services business remained subdued. Its operating net profit after tax increased 18 per cent to $13.8 million, supported by strong dividend and interest income earned on surplus assets, it stated. Its final dividend was declared at 18 cents per share, bringing total distributions for the year to 35 cents per share. Total shareholders distributions for the financial year were up 4 per cent on last year, it stated.

The Trust Company’s chief executive John Atkin stated the company was pleased with the results given the period saw the $31.5 million acquisition of New Zealand’s Guardian Trust Company.

“Achieving these results in our first year of transformation and alongside the acquisition of Guardian Trust was attributable to a significant team effort across the company,” he said. “The Guardian Trust acquisition is a major step-change for us, and provides significant impetus to our change program.”

The company stated its expanded footprint and cross-jurisdictional expertise strengthened its service offerings to all clients. The Guardian Trust would provide a wider revenue base for making ongoing improvements in core systems, it stated, referring to work currently underway to streamline processes for its IT systems overhaul.

Looking to the next financial year, The Trust Company expected that continued interest and strong inflows into Australian investment markets would enable it to maintain momentum in its corporate client services business.

“However, the benefit at the operating EBITDA level from corporate client services will be largely, if not completely, offset by unusually heavy expiry of corporate mandates due to client restructuring,” it noted.

While the long-term drivers of the personal client services business was strong, The Trust Company noted that it was a complex business and would require further investment in people and an upgrade of processes, systems and technology.

“Integrating Guardian Trust and capturing the benefits of the acquisition from both a revenue and cost perspective is also a top priority for the year ahead,” it stated.