By Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) - Emerging markets-focused asset manager Ashmore (L:ASHM) posted a forecast-beating 23 percent rise in full-year pretax profit on Thursday, boosted by growth in assets and performance fee income.
Ashmore said pretax profit in the year to end-June was 206.2 million pounds, beating a mean consensus of analyst forecasts of 198.1 million pounds and underpinning a final dividend per share of 12.1 pence.
Assets under management during the period rose 12 percent to $58.7 billion after net inflows of $1.9 billion and market gains of $4.2 billion, it said in a statement, mirroring half-year gains seen by peers including Jupiter (L:JUP) over the summer.
That led to an 11 percent rise in revenues and 13 percent increase in the management fees it charges clients to run its funds. Performance fees, charged for outperformance, were 28.3 million pounds, it said, up from 10.4 million a year earlier.
"There remains substantial absolute and relative value available across the diversified emerging markets," said Chief Executive Mark Coombs.
"Ashmore's focused strategy means it is in a strong position to continue to deliver superior investment performance and to benefit as investors raise their allocations to Emerging Markets from underweight levels."