The company undertook an assessment into the delivery of historic ongoing servicing, following a significant increase in complaints, particularly in the latter part of 2023 and made the provision for potential client refunds to address setbacks, CEO Mark FitzPatrick said in a statement.

SJP's loss after tax amounted to 9.9 million pounds ($12.53 million) for the full year ended Dec. 31, compared with a net profit of 407.2 million pounds a year earlier.

The results also come as the group faces pressure amid scrutiny of fees in the sector, lower net inflows and uncertainty over the economic outlook dampening investors' appetite for managed funds.

The FTSE 100 company said the hefty provision and the expected decrease in profit growth over the next few years as it revamped its fee structure, would mean that total annual shareholder distributions would be set at 50% of the full year underlying cash result going forward.

($1 = 0.7904 pounds)

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)