Aberdeen sees big pre-tax profit rise

Aberdeen Asset Management posted a 54 per cent rise in half-year underlying pre-tax profit yesterday on the back of better-than-expected performance fees and equity inflows.

The fund manager reported underlying pre-tax profit for the six months to end-March of £143m, which outpaced forecasts by analysts at the Royal Bank of Scotland by 7 per cent.

During the first half, Aberdeen’s equities strategies enjoyed £5.5bn net new business, while market movements, performance and forex movements added a further £3.5bn to assets under management. Performance fees, which the company charges when it outperforms a pre-set benchmark, brought in £19.1m in Aberdeen’s fiscal first half, more than double the £9.4m posted in the same period last year.

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Aberdeen, however, shed £749m of client cash in the period lagging a forecast of £700m net inflows from RBS analysts, as fixed income, property, alternative and money market products suffered fresh redemptions following investors’ move into riskier asset classes to tackle inflation.