StockMarketWire.com - Investment company Polar Capital reported an 8.8% fall in first-half profit after a 'challenging' period marked by net outflows from its funds.
Pre-tax profit for the six months through September fell to £24.9m, down from £27.3m on-year.
Assets under Management roe to £14.3bn at the end of September, up from £13.8bn at the end of March, as net fund outflows of £0.4bn were offset by market uplift and fund performance of £0.9bn.
Polar Capital held its interim dividend steady at 8.0p per share.
'The past six months have been challenging,' chief executive Gavin Rochussen said.
'Active equity strategies have seen continued outflows, and equity funds as a whole have experienced record outflows into bonds, but these have been dwarfed by buy-backs and M&A which have supported public markets.'
'Positioning and sentiment surveys remain cautious, with reported cash positions at high levels and equities underweight.'
'Despite overall net outflows over the past six months, we have had net inflows into most of our funds.'
'With our diverse and differentiated range of sector and regional long-only and alternative strategies with an entrenched performance led culture, we believe that we are well placed to continue delivering above average returns for our clients and, as a consequence, compelling returns for our shareholders over the long term.'
At 9:16am: [LON:POLR] Polar Capital Holdings PLC share price was -22p at 524p
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
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