St. James's Place (STJ) H2 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved strong client growth and high retention, supported by robust investment returns and word-of-mouth referrals.

• Gross inflows reached £18.4bn, up from £15.4bn in 2023, with net inflows of £4.3bn compared to £5.1bn last year.

• Funds under management (FUM) rose to £190.2bn as of 31 December 2024, up from £168.2bn a year earlier.

• Underlying post-tax cash result increased 14% to £447.2m; excluding charge structure implementation costs, up 27%.

• IFRS profit after tax was £398.4m, reversing a £9.9m loss in 2023.

Financial highlights

• Delivered strong flows and positive financial results for the year.

• Net income from FUM grew 14%, driven by higher average FUM.

• FUM retention rate was 94.5%, slightly down from 95.3% in 2023.

• Investment return increased to £17.7bn from £14.7bn in 2023.

• Shareholder returns totaled £223.6m, including a 12.00p per share dividend and £92.6m share buyback.

Outlook and guidance

• 2025 expected to be a year of heavy lifting, with continued investment in technology and advisor support.

• New charging structure to go live at the start of H2 2025, with all related implementation costs expected to be incurred within the year; total costs expected at £140m–£160m pre-tax.

• Net income from FUM margin guidance: 54–56bps on mature FUM pre-implementation, 43–45bps post-implementation.

• Fixed annual dividend of 18p per share for 2024–2026, with 50% of underlying cash result returned to shareholders.

• Controllable expense growth budgeted at 5% for 2025, with cost and efficiency programme net benefits expected from 2027.