The period of Polar’s FY25 (1 Apr 24 – 31 Mar 25) was horrific for many asset managers – but not for Polar. It was one of only two in our peer group to record net inflows (page 4), with heavy outflows commonplace. Polar’s AUM fell 2% over the year, with a sharp decline in Q4 on falling markets. Investment performance was -£495m, net flows +£123m, and fund closures -£111m. Post year-end, AUM has bounced back, up 6% since 31 Mar to £22.6bn (page 3).
Gross income increased 14% y-o-y to £226.1m, mostly as a result of higher average AUM. Core operating profit jumped 27% from £44.8m to £56.7m (previous forecast £53.9m), with revenue margin slightly higher than forecast and core operating costs slightly lower. Statutory profits were hit by a non-cash impairment of £13.6m (2021 acquisition of Dalton – page 10). PBT fell 6% to £51.6m.
Current CEO Gavin Rochussen has announced his retirement from Sep ‘25, with Iain Evans set to take over the role. Iain has 30+ years of investment industry experience, joining Polar in 2004 and is currently Global Head of Distribution.
Polar maintains its exceptionally strong balance sheet, with cash and equivalents up from £98.9m to £121.8m (now 26% of market cap), this after paying out £44.4m in dividends. Polar has no debt. An unchanged dividend of 46.0p for FY25 has been recommended, a yield of 10%.
Our FY26 forecasts are upgraded (page 16), mostly on the AUM jump in Q1-26. We have however pared back our outer year net flow forecasts slightly. These two adjustments largely offset each other with our fundamental valuation unchanged at 550p (page 17).
