Performance fee drop hits Polar Capital's profit

Down 18%

Polar Capital’s pre-tax profit is down 18% to £62.1m in the 12 months to the end of March, according to the firm’s annual report.

This drop was due to a lower contribution from performance fees of just £14.1m, which reached a record high last year of £43.6m. However, the firm experienced an increase in assets under management and core operating profit in the financial year, up 6% and 35% respectively. As a result of the strong growth in core operating profit, which was £22.8bn at the end of March, the company increased its dividend by 15% to 46p per share for the entire year, with the second interim dividend being 32p and due to be paid on 29 July. Gavin Rochussen, CEO of Polar Capital said: "investment perfo...