Operational highlights
- Total AUM up 6% to €13.7bn, following €1.7bn of new money raised
- Fundraising momentum strong, with six first time funds and three successor funds now being marketed
- All funds investing on target whilst maintaining credit discipline
- Resilient portfolio, net impairments significantly lower than prior year at £21m (H1 2014: £76m)
Financial highlights
- Group profit before tax of £85m (H1 2014 £155m), comprising £58m from the Investment Company and £27m from the Fund Management Company, and reflecting lower realisations in the Investment Company
- Investment company profit of £58m lower than the £145m in H1 2014 which included the realisation of the Group's largest investment
- Fund Management Company continues to make progress with profits of £27m (H1 2014 £17m), with an increase in performance fees
- Interim dividend up 4.5% to 6.9 pence per share, share buyback has now returned £54m to shareholders
- Board committed to increasing return on equity to 13% by growing the business and re-gearing the balance sheet to a range of 0.8 - 1.2 times over the course of the two years from our July 2014 IMS
Commenting on the results, Christophe Evain, CEO, said:
"Activity levels in ICG's core markets are increasing, with strong levels of new fundraising across Europe and the US. Our strategy to deepen and selectively expand our range of strategies is aided by this market momentum but we are remaining disciplined in our pursuit of growth opportunities. We are marketing six new funds and have launched three successor funds, and we continue to deploy capital at our target rate, whilst maintaining our traditional credit discipline. ICG's approach offers clear differentiation for investors, through our proven ability to find quality opportunities by being embedded as experts in our local markets, where currently Europe continues to offer investors the greatest opportunity for higher yield returns.
"We are pleased with our interim results; we have achieved a strong increase of 6% in third party AUM, and profit levels in line with our expectations. We continue to place emphasis on financial discipline, increasing our fee earning AUM and enhancing our profitability. We are committed to improving return on equity from the current run rate of high single digits to 13% over the next two years by a combination of growing our business, reinvesting our capital and re-gearing our balance sheet."
