Investec jumps after profit rise

19th May 2011 10:34

Shares in Investec rose sharply after the asset manager posted a rise in profits in the year to 31 March.The company, which operates in South Africa, the UK, Australia and other markets, said operating profit before tax £434.4m from £432.3m the previous year."The group has achieved further strong growth in third party assets under management and five of our six divisions recorded substantial increases in operating profit," said chief executive officer Stephen Koseff. "Looking ahead, regulatory uncertainties remain and we will continue to maintain excess levels of liquidity and capital until there is further clarity."Asset management, wealth and investment, property activities, investment banking and capital markets all saw increased operating profit. Private banking fell into losses though due to low activity levels, increased impairments and write-offs."Over the past two years, we have re-positioned the group as a "specialist bank and asset manager" and made substantial progress in realigning our business model in response to the challenging and uncertain regulatory landscape," the company said. "Whilst our performance remains sensitive to the global economy, our current assessment of the environment is for an improvement in impairments and growth in the overall business for the year ahead."