Invesco MIM to slash dividends
BRITISH fund management group Invesco MIM has suffered a pre-tax profit fall for 1992 of six per cent from GBP31.1 million (about HK$361 million) to GBP29.2 million.
The company also confirmed an expected 50 per cent cut in dividend for the whole year to shareholders.
Problems over fund management activities in the UK and exceptional items incurred as a consequence, resulted in a profits slip of GBP1.9 million to the international fund.
Provision for exceptional items remained unchanged at GBP16.6 million. The dividend fell from six pence last year to three pence. Earnings per share were 2.5 pence, up from 2.3 pence last year.
The company also announced an impending restructuring into three semi-autonomous businesses under a group board.
Partly owned by Peregrine Securities, which has a 24.7 per cent stake, Invesco declared that each of the UK, US and Asia Pacific sectors of the business would be controlled by a separate chief executive, with a full board of executive and non-executive directors.
Group executive chairman Charles Brady blamed the profit falls on the UK operations, which only this week lost control of the GBP120 million Drayton Asia Trust, and is under investigation by the industry watchdog, the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation.
The US business contributed GBP32.9 million to the profits, compared to a GBP7.6 million loss from the European and Pacific investment management business.
Mr Brady was optimistic about the prospects for the Far East, and said the group intended to expand in Hongkong in particular.
''From a base in Hongkong we want to capitalise on the growth in China, though it is not totally clear at this stage how we are going to do that,'' he said.
On the stake of the single largest shareholder in the group, Peregrine Investments, Mr Brady said that he welcomed the influence and expertise of the company and particularly its chairman, Mr Phillip Tose, who is a member of the Invesco board.
