Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) made solid progress in the six months to September 2017, and despite all the uncertainties over the economy and Brexit still managed to register a £178m net inflow of funds. This, together with organic growth and the acquisition of Alliance Trust Investments, boosted assets under management to £9.6bn at the half year; a figure that moved up to £10.1bn as at 21 November.
Revenue jumped by more than a half (see table), although employee-related expenses more than doubled to £7.9m, mainly as a result of one-off costs relating to the Alliance Trust acquisition. Liontrust has also decided to absorb the external research costs associated with the European-wide Mifid II reform into the income statement, which will cost an annualised £1m-£1.5m.
Most of the assets managed belong to retail investors, and a combination of investment performance, net inflows and the Alliance acquisition lifted assets from £4.65bn at the March 2017 year-end to £7.61bn. Institutional funds accounted for just £966m, experiencing net outflows of £160m.
Liontrust has also strengthened its fund management capability, in the form of Alliance Trust's sustainable investment team. The segment accounts for for £2.79bn of funds under management.
Analysts at Numis are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profits at the March 2018 year-end of £25.1m and EPS of 39.7p (from £17.2m and 29.6p in FY2017).
| LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT (LIO) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 500p | MARKET VALUE: | £248m | |
| TOUCH: | 494-510p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 524p | LOW: 330p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.2% | PE RATIO: | 30 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 88p* | NET CASH: | £22.6m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 22.0 | 2.25 | 3.88 | 4 |
| 2017 | 34.6 | 3.59 | 5.37 | 5 |
| % change | +57 | +60 | +38 | +25 |
| Ex-div: | 30 Nov | |||
| Payment: | 12 Jan | |||
| Includes intangible assets of £24.3m, or 49p a share | ||||
