Canaccord downgrades Ashmore to 'hold' after disappointing interims

25th Feb 2014 12:13

Below par interim results at Ashmore have led to a downgrade by Canaccord to "hold".Describing the numbers, which came in at 25% below consensus, as "lacklustre", the broker reduced its target price to 325p.Canaccord said that Ashmore's assets under management are more or less maintained and "given we don't bake in a strong level of performance fees in our estimates" it attributed the fall in overall revenues to margins."New mandate win levels were roughly on par with last year's levels (£7bn vs £8bn gross inflows). Given the margin issue, we look for more guidance...on the margin levels at which new business is being written on," it said."Given a lack of seasonality, full year earnings per share consensus is likely to trend towards 18p. Ashmore would thus be trading at 18 times earnings based on expected revised consensus. Consensus and our estimates are expected to rebase downwards towards," Canaccord said.FP