Interim Results

Liontrust Asset Management PLC 30 October 2001 PRESS RELEASE AND STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT Liontrust Asset Management PLC Further improvement in results from Liontrust Liontrust Asset Management PLC ('Liontrust'), the specialist UK equities fund management group, announced today its interim results for the six months to 30 September 2001. Highlights * Core earnings for the six months to 30 September at £1.45m, up 7.5% * Core earnings per share for the six months at 3.47 pence, up 8.1%. * Cost: income ratio on core business maintained at 70%. * Maiden interim dividend of 0.5p per share declared, payable on 23 November 2001. * Funds under management £1.287bn on 30 September 2001, compared with £ 1.276bn at 31 March 2001. * £290m of funds in transition at the end of the period compared with £ 142m at 31 March 2001. * On 29 October 2001 funds under management had risen to £1.371bn. * Eight new pension fund accounts won worth a total of £289m, five of which, worth £192m, have been won since July 2001 AGM. * Increased number of distribution channels. Commenting on the results, Nigel Legge, Joint Chief Executive, said: 'Our half year results show solid progress on all fronts. The experience of the last few months has demonstrated vividly to us why the combination of our simple business model and clearly articulated investment processes has the potential to add significant value. We continue to view our future with confidence.' Ends For further information please contact: Nigel Legge, Joint Chief Executive, Liontrust Asset Management PLC 020-7 412 1700 Chairman's Statement In the six months ended 30 September 2001 the FTSE All Share Index fell 14 % but due both to good investment performance and new business won, our own funds under management stood at £1.287bn compared with £1.276bn at our year end. In addition, we had £290m of funds in transition at the end of the period compared with £142m at 31 March 2001. On 29 October funds under management stood at £1.371bn with a further £300m in transition. We bucked the industry trend of falling profits with core earnings for the six months to 30 September at £1.45m being 7.5% higher than the comparable period a year ago. Total operating profits, however, which include performance fees when earned, are lower than in the corresponding period because virtually no performance related fees became due in the period under review. The cut off for most of our performance related contracts is in the second half of our financial year and at the time of writing, if our investment performance is maintained, performance related fees will be earned. I would reiterate that our ability to earn performance fees depends upon relative performance compared to a benchmark and not on whether the benchmark itself is rising or falling. As we have explained in previous statements, total operating profits include performance fee earnings and these can be erratic. We may therefore experience periods when total operating profits are lower while core operating profits continue to rise. We regard the trend in core operating profits as the more significant measure as it reflects the underlying progress of the business. We have maintained a tight control on our costs. The cost: income ratio on our core business has remained at 70%. We employed 35 people at the end of September and total compensation costs as a percentage of pre-compensation profit are targeted to remain at 55% for the current year, as forecast at the time of our flotation and well below the industry average. Core earnings per share at 3.47p are up 8.1% on the comparable period a year ago. The Board has decided to declare a maiden interim dividend of 0.5p per share, payable on 23 November 2001 to shareholders on the register on 9 November 2001. We continue to be put forward to pitch for pension fund mandates by a wide range of investment consultants a*nd during the six months under review were successful in winning eight new accounts worth a total of £289m, five of which, worth £192m, have been won since our AGM announcement on 10 July. The majority of the new accounts are for the Large Cap process with the remainder being based on the Cross Report. A number of existing clients increased their investments with us by £25m. We also decided not to pursue certain new mandates when we could not agree fee levels. We are strengthening our IFA sales team as we have great confidence that our products, particularly the Liontrust First Income Fund, will sell well into this market. This fund, based on our fourth process, The Value Dynamic which was published in July, has grown to £32m from £14m since then. We have increased the number of distribution channels through which we plan to sell our unit trusts which include Skandia Life, Cofunds, Selestia and Barclays. We continue to work on a number of new product initiatives based on our four processes which have an estimated capacity of around £15bn. Our experience in recent months has demonstrated vividly to us why the combination of our simple business model and clearly articulated investment processes has the potential to add significant value. We continue to view our future with confidence. Ellen Winser, Chairman 30th October 2001 LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC Consolidated profit and loss account Six months ended 30 September 2001 6 months to 6 months to 12 months 30.9.01 30.9.00 to 31.3.01 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited Note £'000 £'000 £'000 Gross Profit 4,873 6,078 14,835 Staff costs (2,060) (2,748) (7,034) Exceptional staff costs 2 77 (154) (126) Total staff costs (1,983) (2,938) (7,160) Other operating charges (1,348) (1,262) (2,560) Operating Profit 1,542 1,878 5,115 Net interest receivable 224 148 301 Profit on ordinary activities 1,766 2,026 5,416 before tax Taxation 3 (556) (598) (1,624) Profit on ordinary activities 1,210 1,428 3,792 after tax Dividend proposed 3 (165) - (165) Profit for the period transferred 1,045 1,428 3,627 to reserves pence pence pence Basic earnings per share 4 3.67 4.34 11.52 Basic earnings per share (adjusted) 4 3.51 4.67 11.79 Basic earnings per share (core) 4 3.47 3.21 6.59 Diluted earnings per share 4 3.52 4.16 11.01 Diluted earnings per share (adjusted) 4 3.37 4.47 11.27 Diluted earnings per share (core) 4 3.33 3.08 6.30 6 months to 6 months to 12 months 30.9.01 30.9.00 to 31.3.01 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000 Core earnings 1,448 1,346 2,798 Performance related earnings 17 686 2,443 1,465 2,032 5,241 Exceptional costs 77 (154) (126) Operating profit 1,542 1,878 5,115 Consolidated Balance Sheet At 30 September 2001 30.9.01 30.9.00 31.3.01 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000 Fixed assets 284 320 316 Current assets Short-term investments 119 53 61 Debtors 6,944 5,235 6,623 Cash at bank and in hand 7,726 4,372 11,625 14,789 9,660 18,309 Creditors - amounts falling due within one year (8,600) (6,646) (13,120) Net current assets 6,189 3,014 5,189 Total assets less current liabilities 6,473 3,334 5,505 Creditors - amounts falling due after more (158) (263) (235) than one year 6,315 3,071 5,270 Capital and reserves Called up ordinary share capital 329 329 329 Share premium account 1,543 1,543 1,543 Profit and loss account 4,443 1,199 3,398 6,315 3,071 5,270 Consolidated cash flow statement Six months to 30 September 2001 6 months to 6 months to 12 months 30.9.01 30.9.00 to 31.3.01 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000 Operating profit 1,542 1,878 5,241 Depreciation charges 51 52 103 Decrease / (increase) in short term (58) 39 31 investments (Increase) in debtors (321) (464) (1,853) Increase / (decrease) in creditors (4,293) (3,524) 2,139 Net cash inflow / (outflow) from (3,079) (2,019) 5,661 operating activities Net cash inflow / (outflow) from (3,079) (2,019) 5,661 operating activities Returns on investment and servicing of 224 148 301 finance Taxation (860) (238) (771) Capital expenditure and financial (19) (34) (81) investment Equity dividend paid (165) - - Increase / (decrease) in cash (3,899) (2,143) 5,110 Notes to the financial statements 1. Basis of preparation The unaudited interim financial information, which has been approved by the Board of Directors, has been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out in the Group's accounts for the year ended 31 March 2001. The financial information for the year ended 31 March 2001 has been abridged from the financial statements which received an unqualified audit report and which have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. 2. Exceptional staff costs Exceptional staff costs are accrued in respect of the potential National Insurance liability on unapproved share options, which were disclosed in the Company's Prospectus. In accordance with the UITF Abstract issued by the Accounting Standards Board in July 2000, the full potential liability is spread over the period from the date of grant to the end of the performance period. The options were granted on flotation of the Company's shares in July 1999 and are exercisable from July 2002 onwards. Exceptional staff costs: 30.9.01 30.9.00 31.3.01 £'000 £'000 £'000 Write back/ (provision) for 77 (154) (126) National Insurance on unapproved share options 77 (154) (126) 3. Taxation The interim tax charge has been calculated at the corporation tax rate of 30% (2000: 30%). 4. Earnings per share The calculation of basic earnings per share is based on profit after taxation and the weighted number of ordinary shares in issue for each period. The weighted average number of ordinary shares was 32,927,459 for the six months ended 30 September 2001, the six months ended 30 September 2000 and the year ended 31 March 2001. In accordance with the methodology set out in the Annual Report & Accounts we have stated two further measures of basic earnings per share. The adjusted figure is calculated after removing the exceptional item and associated tax charge/ credit. The core figure is calculated after removing both the exceptional items, the performance related fees and costs and related tax charges. For the six months to 30 September 2001 these are reconciled to the basic earnings per share as follows: Earnings EPS £'000 pence Basic earnings 1,210 3.67 Exceptional item less tax charge (54) (0.16) Adjusted earnings 1,156 3.51 Performance related fees and costs less tax charge (12) (0.04) Core earnings 1,144 3.47 The calculation of diluted earnings per share is based on profit after taxation and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue for each period, as above, adjusted for the effect of options to subscribe for shares that were in existence at 30 September 2001. The adjusted weighted average number of ordinary shares so calculated was 34,343,211 for the six months ended 30 September 2001, 34,371,251 for the six months ended 30 September 2000 and 34,442,526 for the year ended 31 March 2001. 5. Dividends The directors propose to pay an interim dividend in respect of the current period of 0.5 pence per share (2000: nil) payable on 23 November 2001 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 9 November 2001. This preliminary announcement constitutes non-statutory accounts under section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The results for the six months ended 30th September 2001 are unaudited. The results for the year to 31st March 2001 have been extracted from the Group's statutory accounts for that period, which have been filed with Registrar of Companies, the audit report on which was not qualified and did not contain a statement under section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act, 1985.
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