The quest of Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) to reshape itself as an asset manager is being made easier by huge demand from institutional investors for assets with higher yield than traditional fixed-income investments - particularly the mezzanine, senior and real estate debt in which it specialises.
The manager raised a record €6.4bn (£4.6bn) of new assets over the period, and - most crucially -raised its fee-earning assets under management by 39 per cent to €12.3bn. This progress, as well as an increase in balance-sheet gearing, has allowed it to propose a special £300m dividend on top of last year's £100m share buyback.
Fund management pre-tax profit, up from £35m to £52m, more than offset the decline in profits at its investment company, which co-invests group assets alongside its clients' holdings. Realisations of £609m reduced this portfolio, which consists of a mix of equity and debt, to £1.7bn at the end of the period. The drop in impairments from £112m to £38m within the investment arm explains the leap in basic EPS.
Analysts at JP Morgan Cazenove have upped their adjusted EPS estimate by 3 per cent to 36.7p for the year to March, compared with 42p in 2014-15.
| INTERMEDIATE CAPITAL (ICP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 590p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.2bn | |
| TOUCH: | 588-590.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 592p | LOW: 362p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.7% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 383p | NET DEBT: | 31% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 439 | 186 | 32.6 | 18 |
| 2012 | 438 | 244 | 47.7 | 19 |
| 2013 | 370 | 143 | 32.1 | 20 |
| 2014 | 464 | 164 | 37.0 | 21 |
| 2015 | 426 | 179 | 50.3 | 22 |
| % change | - | +9 | +36 | +5 |
Ex-div: 11 Jun Payment: 28 Jul | ||||
