By ZILLA EFRAT

INVESTEC's share price hit an all-time high this week after the financial services group announced better-than-expected results for the year to March.

Marking its 18th year of consecutive growth, Investec's headline earnings jumped 60% to R375.4-million, while diluted earnings a share were 36% higher at 572.1c. This translates into a 10-year compound growth rate of 30.5%.

And the group does not look like it is about to run out of steam. Chief financial officer Bradley Tapnack believes Investec can continue to match its historical growth rate without any acquisitions "if we keep our heads down and do our job properly".

This does not mean Investec is not considering acquisitions, only it need not rely on them for growth.

Tapnack says Investec always budgets for growth of 15% above the inflation rate from its internal businesses, all of which are on a sound footing.

The market, it seems, agrees. Investec's share price was trading at R156 on Friday morning, while its parent Investec Holdings, which should trade about 10% lower, was at R152. Both are up about 13% since the beginning of May.

During the year under review, total assets under management, including on balance sheet assets, almost doubled to R138.6-billion because of strong growth in unit trusts and managed portfolios, as well as the acquisitions of UK-based brokerage Carr Sheppards, local stockbrokers Fergusson Bros. and Israel General Bank. Investec's total income topped the R1-billion mark for the first time, rising 66% to R1.25-billion on good organic growth and acquisitions.

Net interest income after provision for bad and doubtful debts jumped 69.4% to R587-million with 25.6% of this growth stemming from the inclusion of Israel General Bank's results.

Other income grew 63.4% to R661.7-million. Annuity fees and commissions made up 57% (46.6%) of this amount. Intensified competition and difficult market conditions, however, led to the security trading operations showing a marginal fall in profitability.

Operating expenses rose 68.9% to R733.4-million. While the cost-to-income ratio of existing businesses fell from 55.2% last year to 52.8%, the traditionally higher cost structures at Carr Sheppards and Fergussons pushed the group's overall ratio up to 56.2%.