(Adds details from statement, rivals' results)
May 13 (Reuters) - Brewin Dolphin posted a 5.1% fall
in first-half earnings on Wednesday as the coronavirus-related
market sell-off towards the end of the period saw assets under
management (AUM) fall by 3.6 billion pounds.
The British wealth manager said statutory pretax profit
dropped to 28.2 million pounds ($34.63 million) for the six
months ended March 31, while AUM stood at 41.4 billion pounds, a
decrease from 45 billion pounds at its fiscal year-end.
A double whammy of concerns over an impending recession,
triggered by the spread of the new coronavirus and a crash in
oil prices has seen many investors flee from risky assets for
most of 2020 thus far.
But the ructions have also fuelled demand for integrated
wealth management services, Brewin said, pointing to total
discretionary net flows of 500 million pounds in its first half,
up 2.5% on an annualised basis.
"The recent market weakness has created a high level of
uncertainty as to the outlook for the remainder of the financial
year. It is too early to ascertain the consequential impact this
may have on our full year 2020 income and profitability," Brewin
Dolphin said.
Brewin estimated cost savings of 6 million pounds to 8
million pounds for the rest of the year, driven by "disciplined
cost management".
Brewin Dolphin's British peers St James's Place,
Ashmore, Jupiter Fund Management and Rathbone
Brothers have so far posted steep decreases in their
AUMs during the period, while U.S.-listed rival BlackRock's
AUM plunged by nearly a trillion dollars.
($1 = 0.8144 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru, editing by Sinead Cruise)