An impressive performance last year from Polar Capital (POLR), which included a 146 per cent jump in core operating profits to £24.6m, was rather spoiled by a warning from the asset manager that the first quarter of the current financial year has so far seen a net $300m (£176m) outflow of funds.
This will bring to an end 15 successive quarters of net inflows, even if a solid investment performance should ensure that assets under management still rise over the period. Assets in the Japan fund more than doubled to $5.63bn over the year, but recent underperformance suggests that this is the origin of the outflows.
Last year's figures show why this matters. Net management fees nearly doubled to £66.3m, thanks to an 83 per cent jump in assets under management to $13.2bn, including net inflows of almost $5bn. Performance fees also rose strongly, hitting £19.2m.
Analysts at Numis are forecasting pre-tax profits of £38.5m for the current year, with adjusted EPS of 31.9p (from 29p in 2014).
| POLAR CAPITAL HOLDINGS (POLR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 500p | MARKET VALUE: | £437m | |
| TOUCH: | 497-500p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 572p | LOW: 370p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.0% | PE RATIO: | 16 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 85p | NET CASH: | £47m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 21.7 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.5 |
| 2011 | 39.1 | 9.2 | 8.6 | 7.5 |
| 2012 | 39.9 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9 |
| 2013 | 51.7 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13 |
| 2014 | 91.8 | 32.8 | 30.8 | 25 |
| % change | +78 | +114 | +106 | +92 |
Ex-div: 2 Jul Payment: 18 Jul | ||||
