Investment performance drives 6% H1 AUM growth

AUM was up by £2.2bn or 6% over H1-24, reaching £39.6bn on 31 Mar 24 (30 Sep 23: £37.4bn). This is slightly above the trajectory required to meet our FY24 AUM forecast of £41.1bn (+10% annual growth), but taking a cautious approach our FY24 forecasts remain unchanged.

A very strong investment performance was the growth driver in H1, contributing +£4.9bn (+13%) while net outflows were £2.7bn. We maintain our strong conviction that medium-to-long term structural factors favour Impax, but also flag some positive shorter-term cyclical data points which support Impax’s comments.

With strong growth prospects, margins and balance sheet, our fundamental valuation remains 800p per share, over 80% above the share price, and we see a PER of 14.5 as undemanding.