Broker snap: Man divi under pressure

25th Mar 2010 13:21

Weak sales and significant institutional redemptions were the main takeaways from Wednesday's pre-close trading update from hedge fund manager Man Group, according to Charles Stanley.The broker concedes that much of the bad news was already factored in to the share price, but thinks that 'it is too early to factor in an improvement in performance fees and redemptions for the next financial year,' even though recent performance has improved. 'Until the recent total sales and redemptions improvement becomes a longer-term trend we feel that there is little to get excited about other than the yield of over 10%. However, if redemptions are similar in magnitude again next financial year as they were last year it is hard to see how Man Group can maintain the dividend given the further downward pressure on fees,' the broker concludes.Charles Stanley rates the shares as a 'hold'.