Intermediate Capital Group PLC (LON:ICP), up 6.0% at 2,286p, was the top riser on the Footsie after issuing full-year results that topped expectations.
The alternative asset manager boasted of record profits in its Fund Management and Investment divisions.
Third-party fee-earning assets under management (AUM) rose 18% to US$46,729mln in the year to the end of March 2021 from US$39,566mln the year before.
Third-party fee income rose 20% to £333.7mln from £277.8mln the previous year. Group profit before tax soared to £507.7mln from £110.8mln.
Net asset value per share jumped 23% to 566p from 461p.
The annual dividend has been increased for the eleventh year in a row, to 56.0p from 50.8p the previous year.
“Raising US$10.6bn of third party AUM in an off-cycle year is a particularly strong performance and, reflecting the increasing breadth of our platform, we had a total of 16 strategies raise capital during the financial year,” said Benoit Durteste, the chief executive and chief investment officer.
“Our balance sheet confirmed its resilience and has demonstrated its role as an accelerator of future growth as we continued to seed new strategies.
“We have a business model and financial profile that enable us to thrive in dynamic market conditions, and I am confident in our prospects,” he added.
Peel Hunt said the results were much better than expected, with profit before tax (PBT) 60% ahead of the consensus forecast.
“Much of the outperformance was in the Investment Company, driven by unrealised value gains (values at March 2020 were at a COVID-19 low point), where PBT of £305m compared to consensus of £131m. However the Fund Management Company (FMC) PBT of £202mln was also 9% above consensus and third-party AUM of $56.2bn was 5% above expectations,” the broker said.
“We expect this should drive upgrades, especially as guidance for future fundraising has been raised to c.$10bn pa, c.40% above previous guidance. Demand for the product, therefore, remains strong, investment opportunities are good, and we would expect estimate upgrades of 5-10% for future years,” Peel Hunt said.