Rothschild & Co: 2021 – Full year results release

Record full-year results across all three businesses supported by strong market conditions

• Business performance:
  • Global Advisory: record full-year revenue up 67% to €1,915 million, compared to last year (2020: €1,146 million) and profit before tax of €421 million¹ (2020: €169 million), reflecting very high levels of activity continuing across the whole business
  • Wealth & Asset Management: very strong full-year revenue up 19% to €593 million, (2020: €499 million) and profit before tax of €117 million² (2020: €74 million). Assets under Management³ (AuM) were up 25% to €103.9 billion (31 December 2020: €83.4 billion) due to the combination of solid Net New Assets (NNA) of €4.1 billion, the acquisition of Banque Pâris Bertrand (€7.1 billion) and positive market performance (€9.3 billion).
  • Merchant Banking: exceptional full-year revenue up 169% to €398 million (2020: €148 million) and profit before tax of €292 million (2020: €57 million), as a result of substantial realised and unrealised investment gains, combined with further growth in recurring revenues. AuM continues to grow and reached €18.3 billion (+17%), of which Rothschild & Co share was €1.6 billion.
• Revenue: €2,925 million, up 63% (2020: €1,799 million).
• Net income - Group share⁴: €766 million, up 343% (2020: €173 million).
• Earnings per share (EPS)⁴: €10.59, up 347% (2020: €2.37).
• Foreign exchange translation effects increased revenue by €27 million and Net income – Group share by €9 million
• Total dividend of €3.79. It comprises a normal dividend of €1.15, up 29% (2020: €0.89), a special dividend of €1.60 due to the record results for 2021 as well as the interim dividend of €1.04, already paid in October 2021⁵
• Following approval from ACPR, the previously announced share buyback of up to €70 million will be launched

¹ Including ongoing investment in the development of our North American M&A franchise
² Excluding Asset Management US
³ Including €6.1 billion double-counted assets representing AuM of Wealth Management clients invested in Asset Management products (2020: €5.3 billion)
⁴ Excluding exceptional items which are presented in Appendix B
⁵ Under our normal dividend policy, we would have paid a dividend per share of €0.85 and €0.89 in respect of the 2019 and 2020 financial years. However, due to the regulatory restrictions then in place due to the pandemic, the €0.85 for 2019 was paid in October 2021, and the €0.89 for 2020 was paid in two tranches of €0.70 in May 2021 and €0.19 in October 2021

Alexandre de Rothschild, Executive Chairman, commented:

“Our outstanding results in 2021 are thanks to the dedication and hard work of everyone at Rothschild & Co during a particularly demanding period. It is this resilience and adaptability which have enabled us to announce today the best results in our history.

All three of our businesses have exceeded their expectations thanks to long-term strategies, excellent client relationships and highly favourable market conditions.

In Global Advisory, the strong momentum enjoyed in the first half of the year continued into the second half. We had a particularly supportive market environment across all geographies, sectors and products leading to an unprecedented number of transactions, allowing us to deliver our highest full-year results ever.

In Wealth and Asset Management, we are proud to have achieved €104 billion AuM, largely thanks to strong net new assets collected across all our geographies, in tandem with supportive markets. The full integration of Banque Pâris Bertrand in Switzerland is now complete with the two entities working together as one bank.

In Merchant Banking, exceptional revenue growth and record-breaking investment performance combined to produce record results. Our solid investment approach continues to create real value for investors, thanks to our focus on three resilient growth sectors (Data & Software, Healthcare and Technology-Enabled Business Services), which have had limited impact from the pandemic.

Despite recent geopolitical events being a source of concern, the momentum at the beginning of 2022 is positive and we are confident about our future prospects for long-term growth. As a people business, we will continue to focus a significant part of our investment on the development of all our employees in order to continue to grow and bring innovative solutions to our clients.

The Group formalised its long-term ambition to use its influence and expertise to support the sustainability transition of the global economy as a key pillar of Group strategy. Each business is integrating key ESG criteria into their operations.

Given our excellent performance, we will be proposing a dividend of €3.79 per share to the AGM. This comprises a normal dividend of €1.15 per share, up 29% to reflect our optimism for the future of the Group, a special dividend of €1.60 per share reflecting the exceptionally good results in 2021 as well as an interim dividend of €1.04 already paid in October 2021. Further, following approval from ACPR, we will now be launching the previously announced share buyback of up to €70 million”.  

- ENDS -

Download the full results (PDF 525 KB)

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