Schroders PLC (LON:SDR) maintained its dividend despite a 12% fall in profits to £280.1mln for the first half of the year.
The family owned wealth manager said challenging market conditions led to its asset management arm winning business at lower revenue margins
Net operating revenue fell 2% to £971.6mln and net income was down 3% to £1.0bn, though this was partially offset by a strong performance from joint ventures, principally with Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY), which contributed £27.6mln in the first half of the year.
Net inflows of £38.1bn were recorded in the first half, versus the net outflows of £1.2bn seen this time last year.
Inflows were led by continued demand for the asset management arm’s Solutions strategies, with net new business of £42.7bn, while the wealth management business saw £1.3bn of net inflows.
Assets under management rose 5% to a new high of £525.8bn, having fallen to £470.5bn in the first quarter.
The FTSE 100 group, which is 47.93%-owned by the Schroder family, declared a dividend of 35p per share, the same as last year.
Chief executive Peter Harrison said: “We have declared an unchanged interim dividend and continue to maintain a strong capital position, allowing us to invest in the future growth of the business.
“We are mindful of short-term risks, but believe that we will continue to generate value over the long term for our clients and our shareholders.”
He noted that the company has not furloughed any employees, enacted any related redundancy programmes or sought any government assistance globally.
Shares in Schroders were little moved in early trading on Thursday at 2,962p.