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Ashmore's shares have been rocked by recent market turmoil but management believes the emerging market focus, where there's generally large surpluses, will protect it from the worst of the credit crisis. Indeed, management has seen little evidence of a deterioration in investor enthusiasm since the tumult began, which should help build on an exceptional set of inaugural full-year results.
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Ashmore's assets under management rose an impressive 57 per cent year-on-year to $31.6bn. New money from investors accounted for about three quarters with the rest coming from fund performance. Net management fees in the period grew 61 per cent and performance fees came in at £20.4m compared with £54.2m a year earlier.
Given this rapid growth, Ashmore has been investing heavily in new staff and headcount jumped from 49 to 69 with the number of investment professionals employed having risen from 17 to 25. Fund performance has also been holding-up well and, while a number of its investment strategies involve investing in debt, it is mainly sovereign debt that’s bought and none of the nasty exotic stuff that has been causing so much trouble recently. Key staff are placing 26.6m shares at 240p but still retain a substantial stake.
Evolution Securities expects EPS of 17p for 2008 (12.6p in 2007), 3.5p of which relates to performance fees.
| Ashmore (ASHM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 245p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.7bn | |
| TOUCH: | 245-246p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 335p | LOW:170p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.7% | PE RATIO: | 18 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 28p | NET CASH: | £218m | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 138 | 103.9 | 10.8 | 8.33 |
| 2007 | 164 | 131.4 | 13.7 | 9.00 |
| % change | +19 | +26 | +27 | +8 |
Ex-div: 7 Nov Payment: 7 Dec |
||||
A forward PE isn't especially cheap for the sector, but the group’s reputation and specialist focus make the shares good value.
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-IC-1.5.4a-prod - 31/10/2008 13:11:34 - carlos.princz
