Impax Asset Management (IPX) runs six listed equity funds investing in companies specialising in environmental sectors, including sustainable food, renewable energy and water. It also operates three private equity funds, which raise money to build real assets. The increasing popularity of these strategies with pension funds and other institutional investors powered new business during the six months to the end of March. Overall assets under management and advice grew more than a quarter to £5.7bn during the period, and up a further £300m by the end of April.
The listed equity funds added £778m in net inflows during the period and generated £341m in market gains. This took funds under management for these strategies to £5.3bn. The top performers were its water fund, and its strategy targeting companies that are resource efficient and environmental 'leaders'. However, not holding fossil fuels or financial stocks meant its funds underperformed global equity benchmarks.
Its third private equity fund, which targets renewable energy investments in Europe, gained two new clients since first close, while two existing clients increased their investments. This took total commitments to the fund to €185m (£156m). This included a €44m subscription from the European Investment Bank.
Analysts at Peel Hunt expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £7.2m during the 12 months to September 2017, giving EPS of 4.4p (up from £4.5m and 2.9p in FY2016).
| IMPAX ASSET MANAGEMENT (IPX) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 105p | MARKET VALUE: | £134m | |
| TOUCH: | 104-106p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 105p | LOW: 47p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 24 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 22p | NET CASH: | £13m | |
| Half-year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 9.43 | 2.06 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| 2017 | 13.9 | 2.44 | 2.2 | 0.7 |
| % change | +47 | +18 | +59 | +40 |
Ex-div: 25 May Payment: 23 Jun | ||||
