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In a somewhat slower day for corporate news, UK wealth manager Quilter reported that sticking to its knitting is paying off, while Zeder is closer to being an ex-listed company. In international news, Italian competition authorities have fined Amazon over the pre-selection of choices for consumers.
London-based Quilter, Old Mutual's former wealth management business, reported that group assets under management and administration climbed 5% to £111.6 billion (R2.6 trillion) during the first quarter to end-March, while core net inflows of £810 million were approximately double the prior year level. "The Quilter channel continues to drive strong flows in both our High Net Worth and Affluent segments," CEO Steven Levin said. "Our focus on broadening and deepening our business relationships is demonstrating clear results, with IFA and Quilter channel gross new business increasing by 34% and 21% respectively on the prior year. We are particularly pleased that our Platform achieved net flows of over £1 billion during the quarter, representing the strongest quarter for Platform net inflows during our time as a listed company." Shares in Quilter jumped just over 4% on Wednesday and have gained more than a third in the past year.
Agriculture-focused Zeder Investments declared a special dividend of 10c per for its year to end-February, which combined with a special dividend 35c, total payback has amounted to just under R700 million for the year. Zeder, now valued at about R2.8 billion on the JSE, had sold its fruit marketer Capespan during the year. Part of the PSG Group stable, founded by Jannie Mouton, Zeder has been steadily disposing of businesses, and it said on Tuesday it is considering offers for its remaining businesses, including its Pome business - retained when it sold Capespan - and agri-inputs business Zaad, now its largest asset. Zeder's shares slumped more than 5% on Wednesday and are now only slightly positive for the year to date.
