Shares in global investment manager Ninety One (LSE: N91) were unchanged in London trading on Wednesday after the company reported a 6% drop in first-half profit and growing net outflows.
The FTSE 250 firm said pretax profit fell to £104 million in the six months ending September 30, from £110.6 million a year earlier. Net revenue declined 9.1% to £294.3 million.
Assets under management dropped 5% from March to £123.1 billion, reflecting market volatility and net outflows of £4.3 billion compared to £3.2 billion last year. AuM was down 7% versus September 2022.
CEO Hendrik du Toit said “narrow sectoral and geographic performance” had dampened appetite for emerging markets and equities in general. He expects challenging conditions for the rest of the financial year.
Ninety One reduced its interim dividend by 9% to 5.9p per share. EPS and HEPS both fell 5.3% to 8.9p.
The company warned its working assumption is that it will operate in difficult markets “for some time to come.” But it still sees long-term growth opportunities.
Ninety One shares have fallen 7.3% year-to-date and 15% over the past 12 months. The asset manager continues to face headwinds from rising interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty.
