Shares in Ashmore (ASHM) surged over 8 per cent after the emerging markets asset manager delivered a strong investment performance and reported record gross subscriptions of $27.2bn (£17.3bn). Indeed, 92 per cent of assets under management outperformed three-year benchmarks and 96 per cent over one year. And, crucially, equity assets performed extremely well, with outperformance over one year rising to 87 per cent, up from only 22 per cent in the prior year.
That performance would have been even stronger without a sell-off in local currency assets in May and June, as investors fretted over the possibility of an early tapering of the US quantitative easing programme. In fact, the 22 per cent increase in assets under management to $77.4bn came almost entirely from net inflows of $13.4bn, with a positive investment return of just $300m.
However, the solid performance in the first 10 months saw performance fees jump 31 per cent to £33.4m, while the increase in assets pushed management fees ahead by 4 per cent to £311m. Average net fee margins were lower by six basis points at 68 basis points, although this reflected Ashmore's success in winning relatively large mandates, where fee rates are proportionately less.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profits in the coming year of £275m and diluted EPS of 29.2p, up from £251.2m and 28.7p in 2013.
| ASHMORE (ASHM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 388p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.74bn | |
| TOUCH: | 386-388p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 436p | LOW: 319p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.1% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 89p | NET CASH: | £396m | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 246 | 160 | 17.1 | 12.0 |
| 2010 | 281 | 217 | 23.9 | 13.0 |
| 2011 | 343 | 246 | 28.1 | 14.5 |
| 2012 | 333 | 234 | 26.8 | 15.0 |
| 2013 | 356 | 258 | 30.0 | 16.1 |
| % change | +7 | +10 | +12 | +7 |
Ex-div: 6 Nov Payment: 6 Dec | ||||
