Sydney-based investment house Perpetual has weathered tough equity markets and "low investor confidence" to post an increased net profit after tax of $64.4 million for the first half of the financial year.
The largest contribution to the result was made by the Perpetual Investment division, which posted a net profit before tax of $57.2 million for the first half – down 5 per cent on the prior corresponding period.
This was "driven largely by the decline in equity markets which offset the positive net inflows in the period and outperformance of the funds", said the company.
Perpetual Private's profit before tax was $17.2 million (down 9 per cent), and Perpetual Corporate Trust contributed $16.6 million before tax (up 16 per cent on the prior corresponding period).
Perpetual has also announced a fully franked dividend of 125 cents per share, up 9 per cent on the prior corresponding period.
The group's chief executive officer and managing director Geoff Lloyd described the result as "solid".
"Importantly we continue to invest in our strategic Lead & Grow initiatives while also increasing our dividend to shareholders," Mr Lloyd said.
"We are operating in a volatile and challenging external environment and it has been critical to focus on what we can control – our client focus, prudent expense management and disciplined implementation of our investment program."
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