Liontrust (LIO) continued to buck the trend for investors eschewing active asset management in favour of passive strategies during the first-half. The UK-focused asset manager gained £723m in net inflows, up on £178m the same the prior year. Together with £847m in investment and market returns, that pushed assets under management up 14 per cent from March to £12bn. However, the group has not escaped the downturn in global equity markets during recent months, with assets dipping to £11.5bn by midway through November 2018.
Retail net inflows of £707m offset institutional net outflows of £134m, with the latter partly due to a pension fund client switching out of equities as it reached full funding. However, growing demand for investments guided by ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles drove assets under management for sustainable strategies by more than a third to £3.4bn - a marked increase given the team was only acquired in April last year. It's now Liontrust's second largest strategy, and forms part of a wider industry trend that has seen responsible investment strategies grow by 25 per cent since 2014, according to research from HSBC.
Analysts at Numis expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £30.1m for the year to March 2019, giving EPS of 46.7p (2018: £27.2m, 42.4p).
| LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT (LIO) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 630p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 318m | |
| TOUCH: | 620-630p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 694p | LOW: 462p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.7% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 94p* | NET CASH: | £22m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 34.6 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 5 |
| 2018 | 46.3 | 7.8 | 11.8 | 7 |
| % change | +34 | +152 | +166 | +40 |
| Ex-div: | 29 Nov | |||
| Payment: | 04 Jan | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £24m, or 48p a share | ||||
