Investors should brace themselves for currency-induced pain when South African asset manager and specialist bank Investec (INVP) releases half-year figures on Thursday 20 November. On average, the rand has slipped about a fifth against the pound in the period under review. With around two-thirds of group earnings coming from South Africa, that's no small matter.
But the bad news should largely end there. A trading update in September revealed that the asset management arm had seen net inflows reach around £2.7bn by end-August, with funds under management up 9 per cent. Meanwhile, the banking business experienced loan growth of 7 per cent, and the impairment charge fell 12 per cent year on year. Investec is also making good progress with streamlining itself. That has included selling its Australian banking unit, as well as two sub-prime mortgage businesses, Kensington in the UK and Start in Ireland.
JPMorgan Cazenove expects adjusted EPS of 41p for 2015, up from 36.3p in 2014, with a 21.9p dividend.
