Costs will continue to be cut at broker Charles Stanley as it works to transform itself into a holistic wealth manager over the next three to five years. The news of further cuts comes as the company reports its half yearly results, with profit at its core business up 200 per cent to £3m. Chief executive Paul Abberley took control of the company at the end of last year and has been working to halt the 300-year-old firm’s declining profitability following two profit alerts in 2014. “A lot of what we’ve done so far is cut the low hanging fruit. As we look closer at the business over the next six months we expect to find areas that more cuts can be made in,” Abberley told City A.M. Costs have been brought down by five per cent, over the six months to the end of September to £73.1m. The London-listed company sold off its stockbroking arm and other parts of the business earlier this year. The strategic overhaul at the company was announced in April this year and will see the firm move further towards managing money for wealthy investors. It’s expected to take up to five years, however Abberly said the company will better able to lay out its roadmap when it announces its full year results in six months time. “By the spring we’ll know more precisely how long the turnaround at the company is likely to take,” Aberley added. Despite the changing business model revenue rose four per cent on the same period last year to £70.8m. Total funds under management however slipped to £20bn from £20.2bn in the same period last year. In March funds stood at £21bn this year. Restructuring self-service online saving platform Charles Stanley Direct has been a major focus of the changes. A new charging structure will be brought in from the start of December. The platform picked up added 5,000 new account holders in the last six months, while costs fell 29 per cent. Abberley is expecting Charles Stanley Direct to continue to grow. “CS Direct has been growing significantly with substantial restructuring,” he said, adding: “There will be growth in client demand.”
Charles Stanley will reportedly continue with a cost-cutting plan aimed at converting it into a holistic wealth manager over the next three to five years; the company is looking to recover from declining profitability having given two profit warnings in 2014. Costs have so far been reduced by 5%, over the six months to the end of September, but the company's CEO, Paul Abberley, described the cuts made so far as "low hanging fruit", and said that more areas for cuts will be identified over the next six months.