F&C blames £2.5bn fall in assets on weak euro

F&C has seen pre-tax profits double for the first half of the year, though it suffered a £2.5bn drop in assets under management.

For the six months to 30 June it generated a pre-tax profit of £12.4m, compared to £6.3m in H1 2009. However, it suffered a post-tax loss of £19.5m which it attributed to costs involved in advisory and legal fees and its acquisition of Thames River. It compares to a loss £8.7m during the same period last year. F&C blamed the £2.5bn fall in AUM on the weakening euro which reduced funds under management by £4.9bn. During the period, it generated £2.8bn of new business, but still saw a net outflow of £605m. The group has also reduced its interim dividend from 2p to 1p and will use ...