LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Broker and wealth manager WH Ireland saw first-half losses mushroom as a result of falling revenues and increased costs from its restructuring efforts.
Pre-tax losses more than doubled to £2.1m during the six months ended 30 September, while revenues slipped 12% to £12.8m amid a costly and challenging transformation of the group's wealth management division.

"One of the key initiatives being undertaken has been outsourcing our custody and operational functions and, as previously reported, this complex project has run over budget and taken longer to implement," said chief executive Phillip Wale.

WH Ireland's corporate and institutional broking wing remained profitable in the half, with the outfit now looking to recruit further "high-quality people" into the division to grow it over the coming years.

Fee income came to roughly £1.3m a month for the half, representing nearly 55% of total monthly revenues.

Chairman Tim Steel, said: "Whilst there remains much to be achieved, I believe that the foundations are being put in place to deliver growth across both divisions."

In a separate announcement, WH Ireland revealed that finance head Daniel Cowland had tendered his resignation from the board and intends to leave the group no later than May 2019.

While it did not reveal any names, WH Ireland said it had agreed to appoint an interim head of finance from 3 December to work alongside Cowland.

As of 0920 GMT, WH Ireland shares had slumped 9.68% to 70p.

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