 fell nearly 2 percent on Tuesday morning, despite reporting a 13 percent profit increase.){kind=link}
Shares in investment company Standard Life (LON:SL) fell nearly 2 percent on Tuesday morning, despite reporting a 13 percent profit increase.
Pre-tax operating profit rose 6 per cent to £362 million, with assets under administration also up 1 percent to £361.9 billion in the six months to the end of June.
Profit excluding spread and risk rose 13 percent and fee-based revenues rose 5 per cent to £836 million.
However, net outflows increased significantly from £900 million in the same period last year to £3.7 billion, driven by an increase in outflows from its Global Absolute Return Strategies fund.
Keith Skeoch, Chief Executive, said they had delivered “a strong performance in the first half of 2017 with fee based revenue up 5 percent and operating profit up 6 percent.”
“We continue to see the benefits of targeted investments to further our diversification agenda, the success of our newer investment solutions and the ongoing focus on operational efficiency. This has allowed us to grow assets, profits, cash flows and returns to shareholders.
Standard Life has agreed an £11 billion merger with Aberdeen Asset Management, bringing the combined group’s asset management up to £670 billion.
“With the proposed merger with Aberdeen on track for completion on 14 August we are ready to accelerate the pace of strategic delivery as we open the next chapter of our transformation to a diversified world-class investment company.
“The combined leadership team of Standard Life and Aberdeen has been working well together to ensure “Day 1″ readiness. We are well placed to continue to meet changing client and customer needs globally, and to generate growing and sustainable returns for our shareholders.”
Standard Life shares are currently down 1.66 percent at 437.90 (0924GMT).