PREMIER MITON GROUP PLC

Earnings Release • Jul 23, 2015

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

You don't have Javascript enabled. For full functionality this page requires javascript to be enabled.

RNS Number : 9317T

Miton Group Plc

23 July 2015

23 July 2015

MITON GROUP PLC

HALF YEAR TRADING UPDATE

NOTICE OF RESULTS

Miton Group plc ('the Company', 'Miton' or 'the Group'), the AIM quoted fund management group, today announces a trading update for its half year ended 30 June 2015, together with an update of its unaudited statement of assets under management ('AUM') as at 30 June 2015.

Highlights

·      AUM increased from £2,050m to £2,225m over the half year to 30 June 2015.

·      Increasing trend of AUM inflows in the second quarter following outflows in the first quarter. Inflows exceeded outflows over the six month period.

·      Average AUM over the six month period was £2,140m, down from £2,953m in the first half of 2014, which included £438m of AUM relating to the Liverpool business, which was sold on 31 March 2014.

·      The average net revenue margin in the first half increased compared to H1 2014, albeit less than expected.

·     Underlying costs in the first half were held at the 2014 level. We continue to invest selectively in expanding our offering to clients in anticipation of growing AUM.   

·      Half year cash balances remain strong at £14.2m (31 December 2014: £15.2m) after payment of year-end bonuses and the annual dividend.

Assets under management

	Opening AUM 1 Jan 2015 £m	Inflows £m	Outflows £m	Net Flows £m	Market £m	Closing AUM 30 June 2015 £m
Equity funds	1,080	276	(187)	89	104	1,273
Multi-asset funds	603	28	(156)	(128)	29	504
Total funds	1,683	304	(343)	(39)	133	1,777
Investment trusts	367	49	-	49	32	448
Total	2,050	353	(343)	10	165	2,225

Closing AUM of £2,225m was in line with management's expectations, albeit we were anticipating a more material proportion from net flows. 

Progress

·      The CF Miton UK Value Opportunities fund (including FP Miton Undervalued Assets fund)  attracted the greatest inflows over the half year with AUM rising from £211m to £378m at the end of June. We intend to merge these funds before the end of the year.

·      Miton's Cautious and Defensive multi asset funds1 have continued to generate first quartile performance over the first year under the new investment team. This should help these funds to return to growing AUM.

·      The Miton Income Fund has continued to generate first quartile performance.

·      At the end of April we launched a new investment trust - Miton UK MicroCap Trust plc - raising £50m gross. The trust's Net Asset Value (NAV) and share price have appreciated since launch.

·      Carlos Moreno will be joining Miton in August as European Equities Fund Manager. We intend to launch a new European equities fund later this year.

Outlook

The funds we manage have in aggregate generated strong performance in the first half of the year. Encouragingly over the last quarter there has been increasing evidence that outflows have moderated and inflows are picking up. We anticipate this positive trend continuing in the second half of the year. 

Average net revenue margin for the year as a whole is likely to show an increase on 2014 but is likely to be lower than originally expected.

The costs of our European initiative including recruitment, fund launch and ancillary costs are expected to be up to £400,000.  These were originally budgeted for 2016.

We will update the market on current trends when we announce Miton's half year results to 30 June 2015 on Monday 28 September 2015.

Ian Dighé, Executive Chairman of Miton Group, commented:

"Following the launch of Miton UK MicroCap Trust plc, we intend to launch a new European fund in the second half of the year. Assuming markets remain stable, we expect an improving growth trend in AUM going forward as many of our funds continue to generate decent absolute gains and sizeable outperformance for our clients.  We are encouraged by these trends, which are expected to benefit our future financial performance."

1CF Miton Cautious Multi Asset fund and CF Miton Defensive Multi Asset fund

END

For further information, please contact:

Miton Group plc                                                                                               020 3714 1500      

Ian Dighé (Executive Chairman)                                                                          

Gervais Williams (Managing Director)                                                                  

Robert Clarke (Finance Director)                         

MHP Communications                                                                                     miton@mhpc.com

Reg Hoare / Simon Hockridge                                                                             020 3128 8100

Peel Hunt (Nominated adviser and Broker)                                                     020 7418 8893

Guy Wiehahn / Elliot Thomas

www.mitongroup.com

Notes to Editors:

Miton Group plc (referred to as the "Company", "Miton" or "Group"), is a multi-asset and equity fund management specialist. As at 30 June 2015 the Group managed £2,225 million of assets including nine OEICs, four unit trusts and four investment trusts under the Miton and Darwin brands. Members of the fund management team invest in their own funds and are significant shareholders in the Company.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

TSTPKNDBNBKDCOB