Weakness in emerging equity markets was blamed for net outflows of £20.4bn at Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN). Although assets under management rose nearly two thirds to £324bn over the year, this was entirely due to the £135bn of assets that came with the acquisition of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP). Without SWIP, Aberdeen's assets would have fallen from £200bn to £189bn.
SWIP also suffered outflows during the period, totalling £4.4bn - though that includes the withdrawal of £4bn by a single client. The SWIP Property Trust, renamed Aberdeen Property Trust, attracted inflows, reflecting the ongoing appeal of bricks and mortar investments. In other asset classes, fixed income lost £3.6bn in assets at the enlarged group level. Encouragingly, however, Aberdeen's outflows narrowed from £5.6bn to £2.3bn, mainly as a result of £1.6bn of net inflows for emerging market debt products.
The inclusion of SWIP added costs of £60m, but within the Aberdeen business costs were down 4 per cent. The group also has a healthy cash balance, with cash generated from operating activities rising 3 per cent to £544m.
Analysts at Canaccord Genuity are forecasting pre-tax profits before exceptional items of £590m for the current year and EPS of 33.3p (from £480m and 30.2p in 2014).
| ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT (ADN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 458p | MARKET VALUE: | £6.02bn | |
| TOUCH: | 457-458p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 500p | LOW:361 p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.9% | PE RATIO: | 19 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 130p* | NET CASH: | £654m | |
| Year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.64 | 126 | 8.3 | 7 |
| 2011 | 0.95 | 224 | 15.0 | 9 |
| 2012 | 1.05 | 270 | 18.9 | 11.5 |
| 2013 | 1.31 | 390 | 27.2 | 16 |
| 2014 | 1.29 | 355 | 23.5 | 18 |
| % change | -2 | -9 | -13 | +13 |
Ex-div: 11 Dec Payment: 6 Feb *Includes Intangible assets of £1.55bn or 118p a share | ||||
