Back in June, Polar Capital (POLR) warned that the first quarter of the new financial year had seen a net $300m (£191m) outflow of funds. So holding assets under management steady at $13.2bn over the eight months to the end of November was a creditable performance.
But the shares still fell over 11 per cent on results day. The boutique fund house revealed that assets under management in Japan-oriented funds fell by $328m from March. This is significant because nearly 40 per cent of all assets under management are invested in Japan, where the market continues to underperform. The company's specialist sector products showed mixed fortunes: technology funds grew slightly, while healthcare and financials experienced a fall in assets. North American funds put in the best performance, with assets rising by over a half year on year, helped by the strong stock market.
Crucially, management fees grew by nearly a third to £41m. There were no performance fees in the half-year accounts, but that's because most of these fall due at the end of December; Polar reckons they could fetch as much as £4.2m. Three new collective investment schemes were launched in the first half: Healthcare Blue Chip, Absolute Equity and European Income.
Analysts at broker Numis Securities forecast full-year pre-tax profit of £35.9m and EPS of 30p (from £32.8m and 29p in 2014).
| POLAR CAPITAL (POLR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 416p | MARKET VALUE: | £367m | |
| TOUCH: | 412-420p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 572p | LOW: 353p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 6.4% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 74p | NET CASH: | £23m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 31.6 | 10.1 | 9.5 | 4 |
| 2014 | 41.8 | 11.6 | 10.6 | 5.5 |
| % change | +32 | +15 | +12 | +38 |
Ex-div: 29 Dec Payment: 16 Jan | ||||
