AIM-listed investment management company Miton Group saw shares rise over 6 percent in early trading on Thursday, after releasing strong full year results.
The company had £2,905 million in assets under management by 31st December, up from £2,784 million at the start of 2016.
Adjusted profit before tax increased by 70 percent to £5.1 million for the year, and the company proposed a dividend of 1.0p, up by 49 percent to reflect the confidence in future prospects.
The group remains robustly financed with total cash of £21 million, up 51 percent.
Ian Dighé, Chairman of Miton Group, said:
“The business has demonstrated its resilience with momentum regained since the half year. Gross sales during 2016 were in excess of £1.1 billion which is a testament to the quality of our fund management team and a differentiated and attractive product offering”.
“Over the past year, Miton has continued to build its distinctive identity as a genuinely active fund manager. The acceleration of our growth over recent quarters underlines our confidence in our prospects. Miton has an outstanding team, and along with a maturing range of funds, having reached £3,097 million Assets under Management at the end of February, we look forward to 2017 and beyond.”
The group launched The CF Miton European Opportunities Fund in December 2015 and saw strong performance and Assets under Management generation, ending the year at £82 million.
In the wake of the strong results, Peel Hunt reaffirmed their “buy” rating on the Miton Group stock in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.
They currently have a 0.46 price target on the stock. Peel Hunt’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.49 percent from the company’s current price.
Miton Group hare currently trading up 6.71 percent at 39.75 (0859GMT).