Man Group exceeds forecasts

Man Group, the world’s biggest listed hedge fund manager, announced today that its full-year profit is set to grow by over 40% expected by analysts, boosted by a strong performance at its AHL futures business.

The hedge fund said its pre-tax profit from continuing operations for the 12 months to the end of March are set to come in ahead of the £1.8 billion forecasted by analysts. Man reported a pre-tax profit of £1.3 billion the previous year.

In a trading update, Chief Executive Peter Clarke said, the improvement was driven by a strong investment performance from several of its funds, led by AHL. That is expected to generate bigger-than-expected performance fees, payable when the group exceeds stated investment targets.

The company added that its funds under management look set to stand at about US$75 billion on March 31 2008, up from US$71.7 billion three months ago.

Mr Clarke added that this is a very strong set of results, achieved through a period of significant market turmoil. Our financial strength, strategic focus and strong performance mean that Man is extremely well placed to see continued strong growth, he concluded.

Man shares closed at 1,258 pence yesterday, valuing the company at about £3.35 billion. Over the last 12 months, Man shares have outperformed the DJ Stoxx financial services index by about 22%.

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