Net profit after tax more than doubled from $26.7 million to $61 million, with the group declaring a final fully franked dividend of 80 cents. That took the total dividend to 130 cents for the year, up 44 per cent on 2012.
“The Transformation 2015 program is delivering on track as we said it would and, in fact, we’ve been able to accelerate much of the program from the original timeframe,” Perpetual chief executive Geoff Lloyd told InvestorDaily, describing the results as a “vast improvement” on the previous year.
He said the group is about two thirds of the way through the program it announced on 25 June last year, and was ahead of some components originally set for 2014.
This included the introduction of tiered advice, which Mr Lloyd stressed was different from the mass-market scaled advice offerings the banks are starting to offer, and is directed at servicing Perpetual’s core market of existing high net worth clients.
“We think a phone-based service model with the right quality individuals and the right follow-up is something that’s appropriate when you consider advice as a whole,” he said.
Mr Lloyd said the group’s Australian equities offerings are in net inflow for the first time since 2006, and the group has improved its distribution via additions to platforms and models.
This includes being added to eight discretionary platforms, eight financial advice approved product lists and five model portfolios, while the group’s funds experienced four ratings upgrades and 11 new ratings of investment grade or above, according to the results.
Those platform and advice additions were mainly across the majors, “which is where we’ve been focusing our attention”, Mr Lloyd said.
A deal to outsource platform operations to Macquarie, announced in late 2011 under previous chief executive Chris Ryan, is now fully integrated, resulting in reduced risk and costs, the group stated.
Perpetual’s Super Wrap added $200 million in inflows in its first year of operations, Mr Lloyd said.
“We didn’t have a super wrap product before now, so that’s a new product with new flows; it means we now have leverage when we grow, with a partner who’s an expert in platforms and IT, which allows us to focus on the quality of our advice,” he said.
Referring to a potential acquisition of The Trust Company, which continues to be recommended by the Trust Company board, Perpetual said the move would achieve strategic benefits across each of Perpetual’s business divisions, as well as fulfill part of the Transformation 2015 objectives by helping the group grow through a complementary acquisition.
