MGR.L Share News (MGR)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Small cap asset manager Miton Group PLC on Monday reported a double digit increase in annual profit, and said that it has made a strong start to 2018.

Miton reported pretax profit of GBP6.2 million for 2017, up 44% from GBP4.3 million reported the year before, on net revenue of GBP21.8 million, up 21% from GBP19.0 million.

Assets under management at the end of the year stood at GBP3.82 billion, up 32% from GBP2.91 billion at the end of 2016, helped by positive net inflows of GBP494.0 million, up significantly from GBP1.0 million the year before.

Assets in the multi-asset range rose by 29% in the period, with UK equities growing by 27%, US by 60% and European equities more than doubling during the period.

Miton proposed a dividend of 1.40 pence per share, up 40% from 1.00p the prior year.

For 2018, assets under management as at last Thursday was GBP4.06 billion, with positive net inflows of GBP190.0 million in the two months to the end of February.

"I am pleased to report on a year of significant progress for Miton. Positive net flows of GBP494 million demonstrated the appeal of our genuinely active investment strategies. We have produced good long-term investment performance across a range of funds as well as making our operating platform even more efficient to grow the assets under management," said Chief Executive David Barron.

Shares in Miton were up 8.5% at 42.30 pence on Monday.