It also expects to gain approximately £16.5 million ($25 million) from shares sold in Secure Trust Bank, which was floated on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange towards the end of last year.

Arbuthnot noted that the initial public offering of Secure Trust Bank and the sale of Arbuthnot Securities to Westhouse Holdings were the two most important events for the firm during the year.

The sale of Arbuthnot Securities still requires regulatory approval before completion, which was not received before the end of the year. Therefore the firm acknowledges that its results will show a trading loss of approximately £8 million ($12 million), with the final loss on the sale expected to be around £1 million ($1.5 million). A loss of £3.5 million ($5 million) was also incurred through the costs of an employee share scheme.

In other related news, two board members recently resigned from UK-based Arbuthnot Banking Group, which includes a private banking business. Atholl Turrell and Neil Kirton both left at the end of December. Turrell had held the position for the last seven years.