egolinews.com

Hunter Hall International Limited (HHL) expects to see net after tax profits and dividends increase by at least 10% over the figure achieved in 2009 after a solid start to the year. The investment management company said Funds under Management in the financial year to date have increased 20% to $1.99 billion.

Executive Chairman, Peter Hall, said the company’s profitability is down substantially but it remains in a position of considerable financial strength.

Hunter Hall had net cash of $13 million at 31 October and a holding in the International Ethical Fund, valued at approximately $11 million, Mr Hall said.

“The company has cash and near cash investments of $24 million or nearly $1.00 per share,” he added.

Mr Hall added that the company remained cautious in terms of its outlook for investment markets with “the system full of risk”.

“We have about 16% of our investment funds in cash with another 2.5% in gold and a relatively high exposure to Australia, which remarkably may come to be seen as a defensive economy,” Mr Hall said.

“We are finding lots of interesting stocks and believe that we are as well-positioned as we can be.”

Hunter Hall reported a 56% drop in after tax profits for FY09 to $7.4 million, while FUM fell by 29.5% to $1.658 billion at 30 June 2009 compared to a year earlier.

Fully franked dividends for the year were 45c per share, down from 77.3c paid in the previous year.

As at 1133 AEDT, Hunter Hall shares were unchanged at $6.90.

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