Henderson suffers 'significant' outflows in 2011

Henderson Group, the fund manager with listings in Australia and the UK, says its acquisition of Gartmore in 2011 boosted income but that outflows during the year were 'significant'.

Underlying profits before tax were £159.2m, although when the Gartmore transaction, and other items, are taken into account, basic profit before tax fell to £13m.

Assets under management (AuM) by the end of 2011 were £64.3bn an increase of 4% compared to December 31st 2010.

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Corporate activity added a net £11.7bn to AUM. The acquisition of Gartmore added a further £15.7bn. What will have pleased Gartmore's board rather less, however, were the net outflows totalling £6.4bn, mainly in the second half of the year as the euro crisis shattered confidence.

A further headache for Henderson is that the number of its funds doing better than their benchmarks fell from 70% in 2010 to just 59% by the end of 2011. The firm points out, though, that over a three year time period 66% of funds are ahead of their comparators.

The Gartmore transaction certainly helped management fee income, which rose 28% to £360.6m.

Commenting on the 2011 full year results Chief Executive, Andrew Formica said the acquisition of Gartmore had "exceeded expectations". He added though that market conditions remain "uncertain".

Henderson shares fell 1.8% at the open. Over the last 12 months the stock has fallen 22%.

BS