CORONATION’S PROFIT UP 8% IN 6 MONTHS TO MARCH

THE SHARE price of Coronation Fund Managers leapt by more than 6 percent on the JSE yesterday morning after the asset manager reported an 8 percent increase in profits for the six months to the end of March, boosted by the short-term performance of its portfolio. Profit for the period increased to R624 million, up from R578m, and revenue was up by 8 percent to R1.77 billion compared to R1.63bn last year. However, the group said the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted financial markets with a swiftness and ferocity normally seen only in a classic financial crisis, pushing the world economy into a recession. As a result, Coronation pointed out that key asset classes included in its client portfolios were down, with the All Share Index declining by 17.7 percent and the All Bond Index down by 7.1 percent, while the MSCI All Country World Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned 0.3 percent and 0.8 percent in rands, respectively, during the six-month period. Coronation’s total assets under management (AUM) declined by 11 percent to R508bn, compared with R571bn in September 2019, while average AUM remained flat year on year at R562bn. Its diluted and basic headline earnings per share increased by 8 percent to 178.3 cents a share, up from 165.1c compared with last year. The group declared an interim dividend of 178c. Chief executive Anton Pillay said although it was impossible to ignore the immediacy, depth and duration of the economic impact, a real human tragedy lay at the heart of these extraordinary times. “Despite this unparalleled environment, Coronation’s revenue is up 8 percent and net profit is up 8 percent year on year from end-march 2019. This can be attributed to improved relative short-term performance in our portfolios and tight cost control,” Pillay said.