Perpetual improves profit
The restructuring which has occurred within Perpetual Limited has paid dividends, with the company reporting to the Australian Securities Exchange today a 19 per cent improvement in net profit after tax to $27.3 million for the six months to the end of December.
The directors announced a fully-franked interim dividend of 50 cents.
The company said the result included a $6 million after-tax restructuring cost and the foreshadowed $5.2 million non-cash after-tax foreign currency translation cost relating to the closure of its Dublin operations.
Commenting on the result, Perpetual chief executive Geoff Lloyd said it indicated the company's transformation program was well on track.
Discussing the broader performance of the business, the ASX said the personal advisory business, Perpetual Private, had recorded a 29 per cent increase in profit before tax of $4.4 million, with funds under advice up 10 per cent to $8.8 billion, reflecting rebounding investment markets and improved net flows.
Lloyd said that the company had continued the build phase of its platform outsourcing and was now set for the final roll-out in the fourth quarter of the year.
He said this would give Perpetual a scalable, purpose-built and leading administration platform to target the high net work segment.
Looking at the Perpetual Investments business, Lloyd pointed to a 16 per cent increase in profit before tax to $39.8 million and an 8 per cent increase in funds under management.
Lloyd remained cautious about the market outlook, saying that while market sentiment had improved it was yet to translate into significant net inflows for the industry.
"However our business model and strategy do not solely rely on a market recovery," he said.
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
Recommended for you
In this new episode of The Manager Mix, host Laura Dew speaks to Nick Paul, institutional portfolio manager at MFS Investment Management to delve into everything small and mid-cap equities.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew chats with Kellie Wood, head of fixed income and deputy head of fixed income and multi-asset at Schroders Australia, to discuss why fixed income is returning to favour after a 12-year wait.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew speaks with Michael Hunstad, deputy chief investment officer and chief investment officer of global equities at Northern Trust Asset Management, to debunk myths around index investing.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic chats with Robin Tsui, APAC gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors, to discuss gold’s role as a diversifier in portfolios.
