Update: Towry profits halve as regulatory costs bite

Wealth management group Towry saw profit more than halve in 2014 as a result of costs relating to acquisitions and "various issues" following discussions with the regulator.

The restricted advice group, which is in the process of acquiring listed peer Ashcourt Rowan for £120m, having upped its original £97m offer earlier this year, saw pre-tax profit drop from £9.8m in 2013 to £4.4m last year. Costs related to earlier acquisitions, such as that of Baker Tilly Financial Services, were among the factors in the decline. Restructuring costs rose from £2.9m to £5.4m year-on-year, driven largely by "staff termination costs and integration costs relating to acquisitions," the firm said in its annual accounts. Exceptional regulatory costs also jumped, from £2....