31 March 2022

 

Curtis Banks Group plc

 

("Curtis Banks" or the "Group")

 

Final Results for the 12 Months to 31 December 2021

 

Curtis Banks Group PLC is pleased to announce its final results for the 12 months to 31 December 2021. These results represent the full 12 month period.

 

Financial Highlights

 

·    Revenue increased by 17.5% to £63.3m (2020: £53.9m)

·    Adjusted profit before tax^{1 4} increased by 4.7% to £14.0m (2020 restated: £13.4m)

·    Adjusted operating margin^{2 4} decreased to 23.5% (2020 restated: 26.0%), mainly impacted by the £3.9m decrease of interest income (note 2) compared to the prior year. If interest income had remained at the same level, the adjusted operating margin would be 28.0%

·    Profit before tax increased by 22.2% to £9.3m (2020 restated: £7.6m)

·    Adjusted diluted EPS of 16.9p (2020: 17.9p)^{3 4}

·    Gross organic growth in Full and Mid SIPP numbers of 7.9% (2020: 7.8%) with total SIPPs, including third party administered, now 79,679 (2020: 82,224)

·    Attrition rate on own Full and Mid SIPPs increased to 6.1% (2020: 4.6%)

·    Assets under Administration ("AuA") increased by 15.4% to £37.4bn (2020: £32.4bn)

·    Proposed final dividend of 6.5p (2020: 6.5p) making a full year payment of 9.0p (2020: 9.0p)

 

Operational Highlights

 

·    Gross increase in core Full and Mid SIPPs of 7.9%, improving both the quantum and quality of earnings.

·    Revisions to our annual fixed sterling charge model have further improved the annuity-like revenue stream with no negative impact on attrition rates.  Annual SIPP administration fees increased by 20% in February 2021, with a further 7% increase in January 2022 to annual and transactional charges.

·    Progress continues with the integration of Talbot and Muir and Dunstan Thomas.  Dunstan Thomas faced revenue headwinds due to COVID-19, but continues to improve the customer proposition and revenue diversification opportunities through its technology solutions.

·    The Group continues to make good progress on delivering operational efficiencies through our five-year systems strategy, which remains on time and on budget.

·    The Curtis Banks Group ESG Strategy has been formulated and includes commitments to act on issues most important to the Group and its stakeholders, including the promotion of intergenerational wealth transfer and fairness.

 

 

Highlights and Key Performance Indicators:

 

	2021	2020 Restated
Financial
Revenue	£63.3m	£53.9m
Adjusted profit before tax1 4	£14.0m	£13.4m
Profit before tax	£9.3m	£7.6m3
Adjusted operating margin2 4	23.5%	26.0%
Diluted EPS	11.5p	9.7p3
Adjusted diluted EPS4	16.9p	17.9p
Operational Highlights
Number of SIPPs administered	79,679	82,224
Assets under Administration	£37.4bn	£32.4bn
Total organic new Full and Mid SIPPs in year	4,329	3,700
Attrition rates (Mid & Full SIPP)	6.1%	4.6%
Number of properties administered	9,065	8,905

 

1 Profit before tax, amortisation and adjusting items 

2 The ratio of operating profit before amortisation and adjusting items to revenue.

3 Results for the year ended 31 December 2020 have been restated to account for measurement period adjustments arising under IFRS 3 Business Combinations.

4 In addition to statutory IFRS performance measures, the Group has presented a number of non-statutory alternative performance measures ("APMs"). The Board believes that the APMs used give a more representative view of the underlying performance of the Group and enhance comparability of information between reporting periods.

 

Will Self, Chief Executive Officer of Curtis Banks, commented: "These are robust results given the COVID-19 headwinds the Group faced in 2021 and are testament to the strengths of the business, its suite of products and our operational teams.

 

"Dunstan Thomas, which was acquired in 2020, faced some significant challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic which impacted revenue and profitability. However, the integration of the business within the Group is progressing well thanks to its contribution to the diversification of intermediary and customer relationships, through the launch of Fintech products like Imago. The value that Dunstan Thomas delivered to the Group is clearly evident and as the macro-economy recovers from COVID-19 we expect significant improvement in the next financial year.

 

Changes made to our pricing policy now mean that 88% of our core revenues recur in perpetuity, with fixed rates of increase providing higher quality revenues that protect earnings against inflation. This, alongside the prospect of a rising interest rate environment, provides confidence that we will see additional earnings growth in 2022. There was also a notable decrease in delayed SIPP attrition rates by October, as the SIPP market began to normalise following the phasing out of COVID-19 restrictions, and this has continued into 2022.

 

"We are maximising the strong organic growth signals witnessed in our core SIPP products and we remain well positioned to deliver our medium-term growth strategy from a more efficient systems platform and a transition to a more diverse retirement solutions group."

 

Analyst Presentation

An analyst briefing is being held at 09:30 BST on 31 March 2022 via an online video conference facility.  To register your attendance, please contact [email protected].

For more information, please contact:

 

Curtis Banks Group PLC	Via Instinctif Partners
Will Self - Chief Executive Officer
Dan Cowland - Chief Financial Officer
Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)	+44 (0)20 7418 8900
James Britton
Rishi Shah
Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)	+44 (0)20 7496 3000
Mark Taylor
Rachel Hayes
Instinctif Partners (Financial PR)	[email protected]
Mark Walter	+44 (0)20 7457 2020
Joe Quinlan

 

Chairman's Statement

 

I am pleased to report the Curtis Banks Group results for the year ended 31 December 2021. The business has continued its growth trajectory while taking specific actions to improve the quality of earnings and the efficiency of operations, against a tough external backdrop.

 

Despite some headwinds, 2021 witnessed the continued delivery of our stated strategic objectives, delivering strong organic growth in our core SIPP products and the further integration of Talbot and Muir. The Group has continued to broaden the range of services it offers to its customers. We adjusted our fee model early in 2021 to improve the quality and visibility of revenue, while also seeking to bring more standardisation of charging structures across the various SIPP books that have been acquired over several years. This provides us with a strong platform for our medium-term growth ambitions. Following the Dunstan Thomas acquisition, the Group has improved its operations through further technical efficiencies and can now provide incremental value-added technology solutions and services. This puts the Group in a strong position to capture the growth in the advised retirement market place.  

 

The Group has also continued to progress with its systems strategy on time and on budget. However, the Board is now considering / evaluating how this strategy might be enhanced and accelerated to achieve the benefits sooner, by maximising the growth achieved by our core products alongside the new technology solutions being supported by Dunstan Thomas. This enables us to further enhance our product proposition and service quality for our customers and intermediaries, whilst also accelerating achievement of our target operating model and growing the operating margin in the medium term. 

 

2021 Review

 

We have delivered a year of continued growth in both revenue and profits. Revenue increased by 18% to £63.3m, reflecting primarily the contribution from a maiden full year of Talbot and Muir and Dunstan Thomas, as well as steady underlying growth in the core business of Full and Mid SIPPs. The Group's adjusted profit before tax grew by 4.7% to £14.0m, albeit impacted by an underperformance in Dunstan Thomas which has been more severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The headwinds experienced by Dunstan Thomas were not uncommon in the financial service technology sector as the relative reluctance of customers to invest in new technology solutions or upgrades, as a result of the pandemic.

 

The scale of the business continues to grow with Assets under Administration ("AuA") up 15.4% to £37.4bn (2020: £32.4bn). The Group saw a gross increase of 4,329 (7.9%) in Full and Mid SIPPs, including 693 new SIPPs from Talbot and Muir in the year, offset by attrition of 6.1%.  The growth in attrition from 4.6% to 6.1% during the year can be attributed to a COVID-19 lag effect following the lower than anticipated rate in 2020, although there is already evidence that the attrition rate is normalising with the return to pre-COVID levels in Q4 2021 and into 2022. In comparison, the non-core eSIPPs and third party administered SIPPs had experienced higher attrition rates (14.9% and 10.5% respectively) with minimal organic growth. Together the total SIPPs number has reduced to 79,679 (2020: 82,224).

 

The Group's revenue model in the pension administration business is highly resilient with a high proportion of fixed, recurring income which is adjusted annually for inflation. As mentioned above, we made a step change in early 2021 by applying a 20% increase to annual SIPP administration fee paid on Full and Mid SIPPs. At the same time, we introduced arrangements for customers to share more fully in the interest income generated from their cash balances. These amendments have improved both the quality and visibility of the Group's revenue, while also benefiting customers and have had no discernible direct impact on attrition.

The two acquisitions of Talbot and Muir and Dunstan Thomas have seen a full financial year within the Group. Talbot and Muir actively contributed to the growth in volumes achieved during the year, and also the margin of the pension administration segment. There is clear evidence that Dunstan Thomas has been impacted by COVID-19 to a greater extent than the rest of the Group's activities as the nature of its business contracts leads to a less predictable revenue pattern than our pension administration business; however, it remains an important component of the Group's business and a key contributor to our growth strategy. We continue to be excited about the potential for Dunstan Thomas to enhance and develop our product and service offering, while creating significant new opportunities for the use of technology in the retirement marketplace.

 

ESG

 

Curtis Banks plays an important role in the lives of our customers, providing the platform to support them and their families in retirement. We recognise our responsibility in this regard, as well as the commitments we have to our staff, customers, communities and the wider environment. I am therefore very pleased to present the Group's purpose-led ESG strategy within this report, which sets our priorities and plans, particularly around the issue of intergenerational fairness. The Group's ESG performance is overseen at Board level by Jill Lucas alongside Group CEO, Will Self. We very much look forward to providing timely updates as we formalise this important aspect of the business.

Dividend

We paid an interim dividend of 2.5p per share (2020: 2.5p) on 12 November 2021 and the Board proposes a final dividend of 6.5p per share (2020: 6.5p) which, if approved by shareholders, will be paid on 1 June 2022 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 6 May 2022. Total dividends for the year are therefore 9.0p per share (2020: 9.0p).

Outlook

The Board remains fully committed to implementing the Group's strategy and indeed to accelerate our initiatives. This will include efforts to maximise the recent growth in our core business, complemented by leveraging the technology capability provided by Dunstan Thomas. 

We will look to achieve our fundamental objectives whilst also continuing to meet the increasing financial costs of regulatory change on our otherwise largely controllable cost base. The expectation is that material additional costs will be required to support the Pensions Dashboard initiative and the FCA's proposals around Consumer Duty will add to the general inflationary pressure on our expenditure.

That aside, the Board remains confident that the Group is well positioned to deliver on its objectives, driven by organic growth from high-quality recurring fee revenues, which are expected to be enhanced by normalised levels of customer attrition. In addition, we expect greater interest returns for both the Group and our customers. Assuming sentiment improves, we also expect a recovery in performance at Dunstan Thomas. Finally, we believe that further improvements to our operating margins are achievable as we transition to a more diverse provider of administration, technology and complementary services to the advised retirement market providing multiple complementary solutions, including FinTech, Legal and Property services.

 

Section 172

The disclosures required under section 172 of the Companies Act are included in the Directors' report. 

 

Chris Macdonald

Chairman

30 March 2022

 

Chief Executive Officer's Review

 

I am delighted to report on another year where we made good progress, adding scale and diversification to the business, strengthening our platform for the long-term to provide sustainable growth. This is underpinned by our on-going transition from a predominantly SIPP administration business to a more diverse retirement group providing multiple complementary services, including FinTech, Legal and Property services, to the advised pre and post retirement market.

 

Delivery of strategic objectives

Dunstan Thomas continues to play a critical role in enabling the diversification of Curtis Banks into a diverse provider of administration, technology and complementary services to the advised retirement market.  Specific progress made in 2021 includes the launch of Imago Administration for Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS) during the first quarter. Advanced discussions are taking place with potential customers for the platform and clear plans have been drawn on how the platform can be combined with Curtis Banks Trustee Services for third party product provision.

 

Dunstan Thomas continues to be the backbone of CB Labs, our innovation hub and collaboration centre, which is also helping to drive operational efficiency and uncover new product opportunities.  CB Labs is bringing a clear bank of ideas and technical concepts to life.  Priority concepts that have moved to prototyping and beyond during 2021 include:

 

-      a new Chatbot developed and launched using artificial intelligence that has facilitated customer and adviser queries;

-      a suite of new adviser tools including Annual Allowance and Salary Sacrifice calculators with others in the development pipeline;

-      an enhanced suite of new and fully integrated solutions, including a low code Integro CX portal framework that is more agile and can be adopted and integrated in different environments.

 

The initiatives listed above broaden Curtis Banks advisers' capabilities, while expanding the suite of products available directly via IFA platforms. These developments are earnings enhancing and strengthen our potential to grow market share and expand our target market by using technology to diversify Curtis Banks' offering.

 

System transformation and acceleration of our ambition

 

We remain on track to deliver on our systems strategy which will see existing operational systems within Curtis Banks, and all of our back-office systems, move into Navision, one of our incumbent platforms. We anticipate the resulting cost savings for the Group to amount to £1.2m per annum upon completion.  In 2022, we are now beyond the half-way stage and there is an opportunity to accelerate the process to enable a quicker roll-out of an enhanced proposition to our customers and intermediaries, moving closer to full implementation of our target operating model and a consequent improvement in operating margin.

 

Given our ambitions in the pre and post retirement market, it is clear that we have an opportunity to accelerate our existing strategic deliverables as well as broaden our proposition. Not only could this bring forward the existing project benefits but also ensure that our proposition leads the sector in delivering customer centric retirement solutions in a digital and efficient way. We are exploring how this will impact our investment timeline and will provide further market updates this summer.

Operational Review

Curtis Banks revenues increased by 18% in 2021, driven primarily by the inclusion of both Dunstan Thomas and Talbot and Muir for the full 12 months, as well as the underlying growth of our core business. Our predictable, highly cash generative business model was further in evidence when our new, fixed-fee charging structure enabled us to increase annual SIPP admin fees by 20% in February 2021 with negligible impact on customer attrition.  This led to a material increase in fee income by 11% compared to 2020, and by 22% when including the contribution from Talbot and Muir. This has resulted in 62% (2020: 54%) of revenue now attributable to predictable, fixed fees.  This initiative not only improves our quality of earnings, but is also a long-term strategic move which leaves Curtis Banks well positioned to benefit from a rising interest rate environment. It is highly likely that 2021 can be seen as a floor, with net interest margin upside now available for the Group. Not only does this allow for more predictable earnings growth, it also provides customers with a transparent offering; a clear point of differentiation in the market.

Overall, the strong underlying performance of our core Full and Mid SIPPs led to net organic growth of 1.8% (calculated as organic growth less attrition, divided by 2020 closing number of core SIPPs)  in 2021, despite delayed customer attrition during the year due to COVID-19. We expect attrition to normalise in 2022, as it did during the last three months of 2021, and the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions will further facilitate new business gains.

 

Strong growth in core SIPP administration business

 

By the end of 2021, the number of SIPPs administered saw a 7.9% gross organic increase of our core Full and Mid SIPPs, offset by attrition of 6.1%.

The continued growth in our core product offering, Your Future SIPP, continues to have a positive impact on the Group's organic growth as well as on our relationships with advisers and introducers.  

The resulting increase in the total number of properties administered by the Group rose to 9,065 and we expect further growth based on a record number of enquiries in Q4 2021. The Rivergate legal business has provided value adding services to our customers during the year and was successful in trading as a proof of concept driven by demand. We continue to explore options to fast-track the evolution of Rivergate as the business is still in its infancy.

 

Number of policies	Full SIPPs	Mid SIPPs	Total Full and Mid SIPPs	eSIPPs	Third Party Administered	Total
As at 31 December 2021	21,272	34,699	55,971	17,881	5,827	79,679
As at 31 December 2020	23,013	31,985	54,998	20,742	6,484	82,224
SIPPs added organically	914	3,415	4,329	236	24	4,589
Conversions and reclassifications	(1,216)	1,216	-	-	-	-
SIPPs lost through attrition	(1,439)	(1,917)	(3,356)	(3,097)	(681)	(7,134)
Gross organic growth rate	4.0%	10.7%	7.9%	1.1%	0.4%	5.6
Annualised attrition rate	6.3%	6.0%	6.1%	14.9%	10.5%	8.7%

 

 

Industry backdrop

 

Whilst the last two years have seen broader market volatility, the strength of the Curtis Banks business model has again shone through with our fixed fee model delivering consistent revenue generation. Curtis Banks' product proposition and breadth of service enable us to provide superior choice and flexibility to the needs of a retirement market that is having to deal with increasing levels of macro-volatility.

 

Retail investment platforms continue to see significant in-flows and Curtis Banks is rapidly developing a Digital Proposition that sits alongside the classic retail platform solutions, providing customers greater control of their portfolios at the higher end of the market. During 2021, our average transfer to the group included the consolidation of 2 existing pensions totalling an average transfer value of over £465k, further reinforcing our strategy. In 2021, 86% of all transfers came from retail platforms, further evidencing the migration driven by asset values and product complexity.

 

The pension market continued to be the focus of regulators during 2021. The Curtis Banks business model adopts a very clear approach in that we only work with regulated financial advisers and we do not provide advice on investments held within our SIPPs. Our fee structures also remain fair, transparent and competitive for our target market and remains well positioned to withstand any industry pressure on fee levels.

 

Integration of Talbot and Muir and Dunstan Thomas

 

The acquisitions of Talbot and Muir and Dunstan Thomas have been further integrated into the Group and made a maiden full year contribution in 2021. As evidenced by the strategic update provided, both businesses underpin our transition to a more diverse retirement group, providing multiple complementary solutions, including FinTech, legal and property services to the advised retirement market.

 

The additional scale from Talbot and Muir has enhanced the operating margin across the pension administration segment. 

 

The nature of Dunstan Thomas's FinTech business means that the revenue stream is more volatile than that of pension administration, with lower certainty on the timing of revenue recognition on its customer contracts. Dunstan Thomas has perhaps felt the impact of COVID-19 to a greater degree than the wider business as some customers have chosen to slow or defer some projects. While this is disappointing, we remain confident of the medium and long term benefits this acquisition will bring. Dunstan Thomas has improved the customer proposition offered by the Group and broadened our customer base by introducing Fintech solutions for wealth managers. This diversifies our revenue base, helps the Group to reach a wider target market and pursue natural cross-sell opportunities to our existing SIPP administration offering.

 

ESG Strategy - Promoting Fairness for Current and Future Generations

 

The Group is pleased to publish its inaugural ESG Policy. Following an independent materiality assessment of the Group, we identified a number of opportunities to make a real difference in addressing important issues to society, the economy and the environment.

 

Key initiatives delivered in 2021 include:

·    Established a new partnership with The Intergenerational Foundation to keep generations of families out of poverty and on our platform for generations to come; 

·    Engaged with our deposit taking counterparties to better understand the use of the cash which is placed with them;

·    Undertook an initial analysis of our Commercial Property holdings in pensions to understand the future climate risk;

·    Accreditation as an UK Living Wage Foundation employer. This commitment applies not only to directly employed staff but also to our third party contracted staff in recognition that life is hard for working generations;

 

Plans for 2022:

·    Engage further with The Intergenerational Foundation to help us review our products and services with the aim of adapting our products and services to enable better Intergenerational planning.

·    Further discussions with deposit takers to establish how cash funds can be deployed to make an even bigger positive impact.

·    Delivery of unconscious bias in software training in our Dunstan Thomas business - an industry first.

·    Pricing decisions on holding more environmentally friendly commercial properties in SIPPS.

·    ESG Data centre for the Group all in one place (i.e. adviser, customer, employee satisfaction, carbon, financials)      

 

We have established board level accountability for the Group's ESG performance, overseen jointly by Jill Lucas, Non-executive Director, and through my position as CEO. Progress on activities will be reported at monthly Executive Committee meetings with regular updates alongside the formal annual reporting cycle.  

 

Outlook - Well positioned to execute medium-term growth strategy

 

The Group is in a strong position to execute its medium-term growth strategy and broaden its services in the advised pre and post retirement market. We expect to report further growth from our high-quality recurring fee revenue, with net organic growth benefiting a return to more normal rates of customer attrition for the core Full and Mid SIPPs. These rates had already reduced in 2021 from a high of 8.0% in June to 4.6% in December and into 2022 (4.9% in February 2022).

 

Given the opportunities arising from the core business and the technology platform provided by Dunstan Thomas, the Board is reviewing the scope to accelerate our growth initiatives. This would enable us to streamline the business and enhance our customer proposition while continuing to meet the increasing regulatory burden, for example supporting the Pensions Dashboard initiative and the FCA's proposals around Consumer Duty.

 

As a result of the Group's improved earnings quality and visibility, coupled with its technology initiatives, the Board is confident of meeting its stated growth objectives. Furthermore, the combination of accelerated strategy implementation and organic growth leaves the Group well positioned to achieve improvements in operating margin ahead of current expectations.

 

 

Will Self

Chief Executive Officer

30 March 2022

 

 

 

Chief Financial Officer's Review

 

Results

 

A resilient financial performance for the year ended 31 December 2021 saw revenue increase by 18% to £63.3m (2020: £53.9m) and statutory profit before tax improved by 22% to £9.3m (2020 restated: £7.6m). Diluted EPS on a statutory basis increased by 19% to 11.5p (2020 restated: 9.7p).

 

Adjusted profit before tax, which excludes items which do not arise from our core operating activities, increased by 5% to £14.0m (2020: £13.4m). We have previously referred to these items as non-recurring items, as they arise principally from acquisitions, restructuring and other one-off events. However, to avoid any potential confusion that some may find in this term, we have decided to now refer to adjusting items. Adjusted diluted EPS was 6% lower at 16.9p (2020: 17.9p).  

 

The robust financial performance in our core SIPP administration activities was achieved against the persisting economic and political challenges from both the UK's exit from the European Union and the constant presence over the past 24 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As with many firms within our sector, the Group has not been immune from the economic impact of these challenges, but proactive changes in February 2021 to Curtis Banks's annual pension administration fee model and a full year contribution from Talbot and Muir has resulted in a 22% increase in fees to £45.1m (2020: £36.9m).

 

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to an unprecedented level of severe economic sanctions against the Russian state, businesses and personnel. These exacerbated the ongoing energy crisis grappling Europe and have wide knock-on impacts on the global economy. We do not expect this to have a significant impact on the Group's operations in the foreseeable future because of the fixed fee nature of our SIPP revenue and the lack of direct exposure from our existing suppliers and customers. Management will continue to monitor the situation in case of any new developments that might warrant a reassessment.

 

It remains our strong belief that the demonstrable growth in fees which has been achieved is underpinned by the strength of our core business model, which continues to generate strong levels of recurring sterling fixed fees. Over the past 18 months the Group has seen a marked reduction in sensitivity from interest income which has also improved the quality of the Group's revenue.

 

The acquisition of Dunstan Thomas in 2020 introduced a new revenue stream into the Group and was a further step in crystallising the Group's objective towards greater diversification. The 2021 Group results contain a full year contribution from Dunstan Thomas for the first time and, despite a very challenging calendar year, it successfully launched its Imago Administration solution for SSAS pensions which provides encouragement for 2022 revenue opportunities. 2021 also saw the collaborative Group initiative under CB Labs launch a number of solutions and adviser tools to provide more extensive support to our intermediaries and customers.

 

The Group reports certain Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs") which we believe provides more clarity to stakeholders over the Group's underlying performance and better enables them to form a view on the Group's future prospects. The principal APMs adopted are Adjusted Profit before Tax, Adjusted EPS and Adjusted Operating Margin, and these will be discussed further below.

 

Adjusting items are classified as such when the nature and quantum of the income or expense is significant and arises from a business event or activity that does not form part of usual day to day operations. Examples of such items include acquisitions, including any subsequent re-measurement of contingent deferred consideration and amortisation of intangible assets acquired, office relocations and restructuring activities.

 

In addition, the Group has simplified its reported Statement of Comprehensive Income by reverting to a statutory format only, removing the 'non-recurring costs' adjustment column and other non-statutory changes that were previously included. Our APMs are now only disclosed within the front half of the financial statements and a full reconciliation between these APMs and the statutory measures will be disclosed within the CFO's report going forward, with a strengthened focus and description of the key reconciling items. The Group believe that this change is an improvement to our financial disclosure and will facilitate a more clear and transparent representation of our financial performance.

 

The relevant reconciliation table is shown below for 2021 and prior year comparatives:

 

£'000	2021		2020 Restated
Adjusted operating profit	14,905		13,986
Adjusted operating margin	23.5%		26.0%
Finance income	20		83
Interest expense	(921)		(697)
Adjusted profit before tax	14,004		13,372
Adjusting items:
Dunstan Thomas acquisition costs	(70)		(769)
Talbot & Muir acquisition costs	(63)		(561)
Other M&A related costs	(1,401)		(136)*
Movement on contingent consideration relating to acquisitions	1,870		-
Discount unwind on contingent consideration	(879)		(357)*
Redundancy & restructuring costs	(626)		(1,091)
In-specie contributions	76		(402)
Centralisation of pension administration system	(322)		-
Treasury solution implementation	(45)		(286)
Data cleansing provision	(288)		(53)
Adjusting items	(1,748)		(3,655)
Impairment on customer portfolios	-		(344)
Intangible asset amortisation	(2,934)		(1,744)**
IFRS Profit before tax	9,322		7,629
Taxation	(1,603)		(1,732)
Profit after tax	7,719		5,897
Adjusted EPS
Basic	17.1		18.1
Diluted	16.9		17.9

*Measurement period restatements of £15k decrease in other acquisition related costs, £169k increase in discount unwind, and £354k decrease in amortisation.