30th Nov 2015 07:16
LONDON (Alliance News) - Aberdeen Asset Management PLC on Monday reported stable profit in its last financial year, as weak investor sentiment towards Asia and emerging markets in general weighed on the asset manager's results, with heavy net outflows hitting assets under management.
Pretax profit fell to GBP353.7 million in the year ended September 30, compared with GBP354.6 million the prior year. On an underlying basis, which is stated before amortisation of intangible assets and acquisition-related items, pretax profit edged up to GBP491.6 million from GBP490.3 million. Aberdeen increased its dividend for the full year to 19.5 pence from 18.0p.
Assets under management fell to GBP283.7 billion on September 30 from GBP324.4 billion at the same stage the prior year, as Aberdeen saw net outflows of GBP33.88 billion over the year as a whole. Net outflows were highest in the fourth quarter, which accounted for 38% of the total at GBP12.69 billion.
"The cyclical correction in Asian and emerging markets and resulting negative investor sentiment has, as expected, led to further flows from our equities business. While we believe the current weakness may have some way to run, the long term fundamental attractions of investing in these high growth economies remain compelling for patient investors," Chief Executive Martin Gilbert said in a statement.
"We continue to rebalance and diversify the business, to focus on managing our costs and to generate cash and this has helped to mitigate the impact of the outflows we've seen. We intend to continue with this strategy alongside ensuring we continue to deliver long term value for our clients and shareholders," Gilbert said.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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