Record (LSE:REC) swung to a 49% rise in profit after tax attributable to shareholders, reaching £5.6 million in the six months to 30 September, as the London-listed specialist asset manager reported record assets under management of $130.3 billion.
The currency and investment manager said revenue increased 19% to £22.8 million in the half, up from £19.2 million a year earlier, with management fees up 6% to £18.6 million and performance fees jumping to £2.2 million from £0.8 million.
Operating margin rose to 32.3% from 23.4%, which the company attributed to higher-margin growth and continued cost discipline, with operating costs up just 3% to £15.2 million against the 19% revenue increase.
Basic earnings per share came in at 2.84p, up from 1.93p a year earlier.
Assets under management rose 14% to a new high of $130.3 billion, from $114.6 billion at the end of March, including net inflows of $12.7 billion across the group's three product pillars: Risk Management, Absolute Return and Private Markets.
Absolute Return drove the bulk of those inflows, with $10.4 billion arriving predominantly from new FX Alpha mandates won towards the end of the period; because the mandates were funded close to period end, Record said their revenue contribution will begin in the second half.
Private Markets inflows came from continued demand for Solutions for Asset Managers and two deployments from the Record Infrastructure Equity Fund totalling $0.2 billion, while undeployed commitments to that fund stood at $1.1 billion, unchanged from March.
The Board declared an interim dividend of 1.00p per share, sharply down from 2.15p a year earlier, as Record introduced a new dividend policy targeting a payout range of 40% to 60% of profit after tax attributable to equity holders.
The company said the previous payout level, which returned over 90% of earnings through dividends over the last two years, was not sustainable alongside the investment needed to broaden its product range into higher-margin solutions.
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For the full year, the Board said it currently expects the total ordinary dividend to land around the mid-point of the new payout range.
"This was a strong first half for the Group, both operationally and financially," said Jan Witte, Chief Executive Officer of Record, adding that the new dividend policy "strikes the right balance between maintaining balance sheet strength, providing flexibility to invest in growth and delivering sustainable returns to shareholders."
Cash and cash equivalents stood at £13.4 million at period end, up from £13.0 million at the end of March.
Albert Soleiman joined the Record board as Group Chief Financial Officer on 28 September, succeeding Samantha Dunn, who had served as Interim Chief Financial Officer during the transition.
Record said group performance continues to support its expectations for the current financial year, with more detail on the new capital allocation policy due at the full-year results announcement.