Speirs & Jeffrey deal boosts Rathbone funds under management, profit

(Reuters) - Wealth and investment manager Rathbone Brothers' <RAT.L> underlying net operating income rose about 14 percent in the third quarter, as funds under management were boosted by the purchase of its biggest independent rival in Scotland.

Total funds under management rose 18.5 percent to 47.3 billion pounds at Sept. 30, mainly due to the addition of 6.7 billion pounds in funds from Speirs & Jeffrey. Excluding the impact of the acquisition, it rose only 1.8 percent.

Underlying net operating income rose to 80.3 million pounds for the three months from 70.5 million pounds, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)