Tavistock Investments PLC on Monday said it made ‘significant’ progress with its strategic refocussing as it proposed a higher dividend despite turning to an interim loss.

The Ascot, Berkshire-based financial advice and investment management firm said it swung to a pretax loss of £989,000 in the six months to September 30, from a profit of £240,000 a year prior.

Revenue fell 4.6% to £19.6 million from £20.6 million.

Cost of sales decreased by 2.6% to £12.5 million from £12.8 million. However, administrative expenses increased 7.3% to £7.3 million from £6.8 million.

The company proposed an interim dividend of 0.09 pence per share, up 29% from 0.07p a year ago.

Tavistock shares rose 9.0% to 4.25 pence each on Monday afternoon in London.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Raven said: ‘I am pleased with the significant progress we’ve made with the strategic refocussing of the group’s activities, increasing our ability to provide solutions in the UK retail investment market. I anticipate that the non-advised provision of investment management services to the clients of third-party advice businesses and directly to the public will become a substantial part of Tavistock’s service proposition. Our debt facility with Bank of Ireland and cash resources following the disposal of our network of self-employed independent financial advisors give us the wherewithal to expand our scope and profitability and we are in active talks with a number of targets.’

Last week Monday, Tavistock announced it received the £22.0 million initial cash consideration for the sale of its network of self-employed registered individuals to wealth management firm Saltus Partnership Holdings LLP.

Tavistock said the disposal marked a beginning of a new strategic phase in the company’s development.

CEO Raven said last Monday: ‘I am delighted that we are gaining real momentum in repositioning our dynamic asset management business. Our conditional acquisition of Alpha Beta Partners announced last week is a key step forward and we are now in a stronger position to generate superior growth and profitability as we continue to optimise our proposition for retail investors.’

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