We would love to hear your thoughts about our site and services, please take our survey here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Half year results: Management summarised the group's financial performance during the period as "satisfactory." The group's net revenue declined by 10%, primarily the result of lower performance fees taken. Performance fees declined to £15.3 million, down from £23 million in the previous half year. The profit (EBITDA) margin stayed flat at 70%, with profits therefore declining. In a broadly down day for stockmarkets, the share price declined by just over 1% in late morning trade. Nonetheless, the board continued to highlight what it described as a "strong" investment performance. 89% of Assets under Management had outperformed relevant benchmarks over one year, and 88% over three years. An experienced investment team with a 20 year track record of investing successfully in the group's markets was highlighted, whilst the board's confidence for the outlook was expressed through an increase to the half year dividend
One of Britain's richest hedge fund bosses has been ordered to fly to the Philippines to answer questions over his firm's links to a businessman at the centre of a corruption scandal. Mark Coombs, chief executive of the FTSE 250 investment firm Ashmore and ranked 59th in The Sunday Times Rich List, has been summoned to appear before an investigating committee of the Philippines senate. The senate wants to probe Ashmore's dealings with Roberto "Bobby" Ongpin, who has worked with the firm on deals in the Philippines for a number of years. Ongpin, a trade minister under President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s, has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges related to dealings with the Development Bank of the Philippines and insider trading. His assets were frozen in December, that same newspaper reports.
Ashmore Group: Numis upgrades to add with a target price of 380p.
Ashmore Group: Canaccord Genuity moves target price from 315p to 399p and upgrades to buy.
typo below
African Barrick Gold: Deutsche Bank shifts target price from 415p to 410p, while its hold recommendation is maintained.
Ashmore: Morgan Stanley downgrades from overweight to equal-weight.
The emerging markets (EM) fixed interest specialist is likely to benefit as Western institutional investors increase their exposure to EM debt in reaction to rock-bottom yields in their domestic markets. Ashmore (ASHM) is also well placed to take advantage of growing demand for its products from within EMs. Assets under management (AUM) grew by 70% to $63.7 billion over the four years to 30 June 2012. The bigger part of Ashmore's AUM are held in dollar-denominated EM investment grade sovereign debt, which, unlike local currency denominated EM debt, has not historically been subject to the same ebbs and flows of hot money. In the 12 months to the company's 30 June 2012 financial year end the company attracted $1.3 billion of net inflows, despite a difficult market which wiped $3.4 billion off its AUM. A growing contingent of EM institutional clients wish to buy debt issued by other EM countries. Clients from the Asia Pacific now account for 29% of AUM and central banks from these and other EMs increasingly want to buy debt in local currencies in order to reduce their dollar holdings where they see exchange-rate risk. Local currency debt, traditionally the hunting ground of speculative investors based in the West, is fast-becoming an established asset class supported by long-term domestic holders. Ashmore's local currency debt AUM rose 14% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 and is likely to become an increasingly important driver to overall group AUM going forward.
Ashmore Group: UBS reduces target price from 390p to 375p and downgrades from buy to neutral.
Good looking stock with ok div's.
Tempus reckons that Ashmore, the emerging markets investment manager, which only fell out of the FTSE 100 four weeks ago, could soon jump back in. Yesterday it gave a positive trading update covering the quarter to the end of last month, as assets under management rose by 6.8% to $68bn. The shares, at 328p when it was evicted, have recovered strongly, so much of the optimism is priced in. “For those who like emerging market proxies, buy on weakness.”
Positive Points: Assets under management have increased by 6.8% to $68.0 billion. The drivers of the increase were positive investment performance of $3.7 billion and net inflows of $600 million. Management highlighted that the group was continuing to perform in line with its expectations. The London based fund manager is a recognised leader in the management of emerging market debt. Group focus remains on long-term growth, in line with the company's strategy. A progressive dividend policy continues to be pursued. The total dividend over the course of its last financial year was increased by 3.4% compared to the prior year.
Negative Points: In the financial year just gone, assets under management fell by $2.1 billion to $63.7 billion. Total net revenue proved virtually flat at £333.3 million, whilst profit before tax declined by 1% to £243.2 million. The share price valuation has been assessed as potentially being expensive. As of its full year results, Ashmore encountered significant market volatility within its core emerging markets categories. The group remains susceptible to short-term volatility due to global macroeconomic weakness.
Financial Highlights: The quarter saw assets under management increase 6.8% to US$68.0 billion. The group is continuing to perform in line with management's expectations.
First quarter trading update: Ashmore reassures investors. In a relatively short statement, Ashmore management broadly reassured investors. Assets under management increased by 6.8% to US$68.0 billion, against a fall of 3.3% during the previous quarter. The drivers of this increase were positive investment performance of $3.7 billion and net inflows of $600 million. The principal net inflows of funds were within the blended debt and local currency themes, with the largest inflows coming from further Asian and Middle East government related sources. In all, management highlighted that the group was continuing to perform in line with its expectations. On balance, with concerns for slowing growth and the share price valuation pitted against hopes for long term growth in the Emerging Markets
Company overview Established in 1992 and headquartered in London, Ashmore Group PLC is a leading investment manager dedicated to emerging markets. The group focuses on a number of investment themes including external debt, local currency, special situations (incorporating distressed debt and private equity) corporate debt, real estate and equity. It manages US$63.7 billion (June2012) in pooled funds, segregated accounts and structured products. The company joined the FTSE 100 index in September 2011.
Assets under management (AUM) at fund manager Ashmore picked up sharply in its first quarter, largely on the back of a positive investment performance. The July - September quarter AUM increase 6.8% to $68bn, driven by positive investment performance of $3.7bn and net inflows of $0.6bn. The principal net inflows were in the areas of blended debt and local currency, which rose 14.5% and 14% respectively when compared to the previous quarter. Ashmore said this had been driven by investment from Asian and Middle East government sources. Net outflows were experienced in the multi-strategy, external debt, equities, and corporate debt themes. Multi-strategy and corporate debt fared the worst, showing outflows of 7.1% and 4.2% respectively. The firm said investment performance was "positive across all investment themes".
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201210110700044278O
Investment fund Ashmore Group (ASHM) announced that its assets under management increased by around 4.3 billion dollars (2.7 billion pounds) in the three months ended 30th September to 68 billion dollars (42.5 billion pounds). The firm said that this was largely driven by positive investment performance of 3.7 billion dollars (2.3 billion pounds), while it also saw net inflows of 0.6 billion dollars (0.37 billion ponds). The shares crept up by 2.4p to 358.6p.
Ashmore Group Buy 18-Sep-12 £500,004.35 Graeme Dell 151,857 @ 329.26p
Ashmore: UBS raises target from 370p to 390p, buy rating kept.
full year profit before tax at fund manager Ashmore took a small dip from the year before but came in ahead of market expectations. Profit before tax of £243.2m for the year to the end of June was down 1% from the previous year's £245.9m, but ahead of the £229.40m the market had been expecting. Total net revenue was more or less in line with market forecasts at £333.3m; the market had been expecting an unchanged revenue figure of £333.8m. Final assets under management of $63.7bn at 30th June 2012, represented a decrease of $2.1 bn (3%) from $65.8bn a year earlier.
"These results demonstrate the resilient nature of Ashmore's business," Coombs claimed. "The group achieved a satisfactory financial performance during a period of significant ongoing market volatility," he added. Coombs is backing the group's focus on emerging markets to pay off. "More and more investors are seeing Emerging Markets debt as an alternative to fixed income in general and with yields in the developed world either high for a good reason or yielding next to nothing, Emerging Market debt looks highly attractive," Coombs reckons. "Emerging Markets equities looks to be ripe for a good year given relatively low valuations, and specialist areas in small cap and frontier markets are bound to attract attention as investors lose their solely large cap bias in the search for high long term returns and outperformance," Coombs concluded. Share price reaction was muted, with the stock down 1.7p at 338p after an hour of trading.
The absolute increase in redemptions was due to a combination of equities outflows in the first year after acquisition of new funds, and from retail multi-strategy assets raised in Japan in the prior period, "undoubtedly amplified by the extreme market volatility experienced during the year." Net revenue for the year to the end of June of £333.3m was in line with market expectations and a tad lower than the prior year's £333.8m. The group enjoyed a 21% increase in management fee income to £302.6m, driven by an increase in average AuM levels, but this was offset by the reduction of average revenue margins which were largely in line with the levels reported at the interim stage. A fall in performance fees to £25.4m from £85.4m the year before was not unexpected, as it is determined by levels of absolute investment performance, which reduce "as is normal at this point in the cycle after peaking immediately following the credit crisis." Performance fees were further reduced through the significant market sell offs at the end of the first quarter which largely eliminated performance fees for funds which have a fiscal year which ends later than March. Profit before tax of £243.2m for the year to the end of June was down 1% from the previous year's £245.9m, but ahead of the £229.40m the market had been expecting. Basic earnings per share eased to 26.8p from 28.1p the year before. The final dividend of 10.75p takes the full-year pay-out up to 15p, up from 14.5p the previous year.