Miton Group Plc Trading Statement (1970C)

TIDMMGR

RNS Number : 1970C

Miton Group Plc

18 January 2018

MITON GROUP PLC

YEAR END TRADING UPDATE

"Strong growth in Assets under Management drives an excellent year for the Group"

Miton Group plc (the 'Company' or 'Group'), the AIM quoted fund management group, today reports a trading update and unaudited statement of Assets under Management ('AuM'). The announcement of the Group's final results for the year ended 31 December 2017 (the 'year') is expected to be issued on 19 March 2018.

Highlights

   --      Year end AuM of GBP3,823 million (GBP2,905 million at the start of the year) (+32%): 
   o   GBP494 million contribution from net inflows (2016: GBP1 million). 
   --      Average AuM for the year was GBP3,361 million (2016: GBP2,783 million) (+21%). 
   --      GBP19.9 million of cash balances as at 31 December 2017 (2016: GBP21.3 million). 
   --      A total of 15,152,963 shares acquired and cancelled at a cash cost of GBP6 million. 
   --      Overall financial performance expected to be at least in line with management expectations. 

Assets under Management

 
                  Opening                       Full                   Closing 
                      AuM       H1       H2     year          Market       AuM 
                    1 Jan      Net      Net      Net    / investment    31 Dec 
                     2017    flows    flows    flows     performance      2017 
                     GBPm     GBPm     GBPm     GBPm            GBPm      GBPm 
 
 Equity funds       1,714      150      211      361             275     2,350 
 Multi-asset 
  funds               672       41       86      127              69       868 
 
   Total funds      2,386      191      297      488             344     3,218 
 
   Investment 
   Trusts             519        4        2        6              80       605 
 
   Total            2,905      195      299      494             424     3,823 
 
 

Fund commentary

-- 13 out of 15 funds were first or second quartile performers since manager tenure to 31 December 2017(1) .

   --      Strong organic growth with positive net flows in 47 out of 52 weeks during the year. 
   --      8 out of 11 open ended funds saw net inflows for the year. 

-- Greater diversification in flows across multi-asset and the more recently launched single-strategy funds.

David Barron, Chief Executive Officer of Miton Group plc, commented:

"In my first year as CEO, we have built momentum in the Group and broadened the business both in terms of client base and product, whilst intensifying our client centric approach. By offering a strongly-differentiated range of multi-asset and single strategy funds and positioning them as complementary to index based strategies, we are well-placed for the changes taking place in the UK asset management market. We have achieved strong investment outcomes for our clients and are building a resilient and diversified business.

"These factors have come together in a year of accelerated organic growth and strong cash generation, with record year end AuM and a robust cash position. As we enter 2018 our business momentum remains strong and we are a more balanced business than ever. We are well positioned for the future."

Notes

(1) The quartile performance rankings are based on Investment Association sector classifications, with data sourced from FE Analytics in GBP using Class B Shares, net income reinvested, mid to mid basis for OEIC funds and bid to bid for FP Miton Income and MI Miton Cautious Monthly Income funds. Performance for Investment Trusts is calculated on Net Asset Value (NAV), ranked against Association of Investment Companies sector classifications, and is sourced from Morningstar Direct. All data is as at 31 December 2017.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Miton Group plc 020 3714 1474

David Barron

Chief Executive Officer

MHP Communications 020 3128 8100

Reg Hoare / Simon Hockridge / Charlie Barker

Peel Hunt (Nominated adviser and Broker) 020 7418 8893

Guy Wiehahn / Rishi Shah

www.mitongroup.com

Notes to Editors:

Miton Group plc (referred to as the "Company" or "Group"), is an equity and multi-asset fund management specialist. As at 31 December 2017 the Group managed GBP3,823 million of assets including nine OEICs, two unit trusts and four investment trusts under the Miton brand.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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January 18, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)