Henderson falls to £20m loss

Henderson fell to a £20.8 million loss in 2008 from a £132 million profit in the year before as it wrote down investments and felt the impact of lower fees.

A spokesman for the group noted that its balance sheet remained strong with a £152 million cash balance.

The loss came despite a cost-cutting drive that has reduced headcount by 9% and shaved operating costs by 24%, although with some associated one-off restructuring expenses.

The company made little mention of its planned acquisition of New Star beyond noting that the deal should be completed by early April subject to shareholder approval.

In his first set of results since becoming chief executive in November last year, Andrew Formica said: ‘Presently market levels are significantly below the average levels of 2008 and we expect this situation to persist in the short to medium-term.

‘Therefore, 2009 is likely to be more challenging for earnings than 2008. However, our competitive long-term investment performance, diversity of revenues and active cost management should provide some support.’

Total fee income fell 21% to £257.8 million although investment income benefitted from temporarily high rates on deposit and income on seed investments, up 28% to £14.7 million.

Assets under management fell 16% to £49.5 billion, excluding business lost through the withdrawal of £4.9 billion of Pearl pension book business, resulting in an annual fee loss of £2 million.  

By mid morning, Henderson shares were down 1.52% at 81p.