Ninety One plc                                                                                            Ninety One Limited                                                                    

Incorporated in England and Wales                                                            Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa                       

Registration number 12245293                                                                   Registration number 2019/526481/06                              

Date of registration: 4 October 2019                                                           Date of registration: 18 October 2019                                     

LSE share code: N91                                                                                  JSE share code: NY1                                          

JSE share code: N91                                                                                   ISIN: ZAE000282356

ISIN: GB00BJHPLV88                                           

5 June 2024

Results for the year ended 31 March 2024

Highlights

‒    Solid financial performance, with adjusted operating profit margin of 32.0%.

‒    Basic earnings per share increased by 1% to 18.4 pence and adjusted earnings per share decreased by 8% to 15.9 pence.

‒    Business conditions remain challenging.

‒    Assets under management decreased by 3% to £126.0 billion.

‒    Net outflows of £9.4 billion.

‒    Proposed final dividend of 6.4 pence per share, resulting in a full year dividend of 12.3 pence per share.

‒    Staff shareholding increased to 30.6%.

Note: (1) Please refer to explanations and definitions, including alternative performance measures, on pages 13 to 14 and 162 to 163 of the Integrated Annual Report.

Hendrik du Toit, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented:  

"Ninety One, and many other public-markets-centric active investment managers, faced headwinds over the reporting period. Despite these conditions, we delivered robust financial results. Looking ahead, we remain confident of the underlying strength of our business and the long-term relevance and quality of our proposition to clients. Our people are united and motivated to provide our clients with excellent service and competitive investment outcomes. The combination of focus on carefully chosen investment capabilities, distribution reach into large markets and our relentless quest to improve execution will realise the growth potential of Ninety One. Despite short-term challenges, our attention is firmly fixed on the compelling long-term opportunity."

Availability of the Integrated Annual Report and Notices of Annual General Meetings ("AGMs")

The Ninety One Integrated Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2024, containing the audited annual financial statements, and the Notices of the AGMs have been published today, 5 June 2024. Copies of the documents listed below can be viewed on the Ninety One website: https://ninetyone.com/full-year-results-2024. In accordance with paragraphs 9.6.1 and 9.6.3 of the FCA Listing Rules and of the FCA Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules ("DTC"), the documents have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism where they will be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

‒    Ninety One Integrated Annual Report 2024

‒    Ninety One Limited Annual Financial Statements

‒    Ninety One plc and Ninety One Limited Notice of the 2024 Annual General Meeting

‒    Ninety One Limited Form of Proxy for the 2024 Annual General Meeting

This announcement is made in accordance with DTR 6.3.5R(1A).

For further information please contact:

Investor relations

Varuni Dharma                                                                     varuni.dharma@ninetyone.com      +44(0) 203 938 2486         

Media

Media enquiries

Jeannie Dumas (for UK & International)                       jeannie.dumas@ninetyone.com         +44 (0) 203 938 3084                         

Kotie Basson (for South Africa)                                     kotie.basson@ninetyone.com         +27 (0) 82 375 1317

Investor presentation

A presentation to investors and financial analysts will be held at our London office (55 Gresham Street, EC2V 7EL) at 9.00am BST on 5 June 2024. There will be a live webcast available for those unable to attend. The webcast registration link is available https://ninetyone.com/full-year-results.

A copy of the presentation will be made available on the Company's website https://ninetyone.com/full-year-results-2024 at 8.00 am BST.

Forward-looking statements

This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer, advice, recommendation, invitation or inducement to any person to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of securities in Ninety One plc and its subsidiaries or Ninety One Limited and its subsidiaries (together, "Ninety One"), nor should it be construed as legal, tax, financial, investment or accounting advice. 

This announcement may include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "plans", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, goals, future events or intentions. Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statements contained in the announcement reflect Ninety One's current view with respect to future events and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Ninety One's business, results of operations, financial position, liquidity, prospects, growth and strategies. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement.

Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, Ninety One expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement or any other forward-looking statements it may make whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

About Ninety One

Ninety One is an active investment manager, investing capital on behalf of its clients to help them achieve their long-term financial objectives. Ninety One is listed on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges.

OPERATING REVIEW

Assets under management ("AUM")

Closing AUM decreased by 3% to £126.0 billion (31 March 2023: £129.3 billion), reflecting net outflows, which outweighed the positive market and foreign exchange impact of £6.1 billion (2023: negative £4.0 billion).

AUM by asset class

Our AUM remained well diversified across asset classes, with the mix of AUM broadly unchanged from the prior year. Our three largest asset classes saw net outflows in the year.

AUM by client group

AUM remains well diversified by client geography ("client groups") and the split remained broadly in line with the prior year. All regions, except the Africa client group, suffered net outflows.

AUM by client type

The split of AUM between the institutional and advisor channels remained consistent with the prior year and both channels experienced net outflows.

Net flows

Ninety One experienced net outflows of £9.4 billion in the financial year 2024, representing a modest slowdown compared to the prior year (2023: net outflows of £10.6 billion). Outflows in the second half of the year were marginally higher than the first half. For the full year, net outflows were driven by reduced inflows relative to the prior year, as clients elected to delay allocations to risk assets; outflows declined relative to the 2023 financial year.

Net flows by asset class

The primary driver of net outflows was equities, particularly from global strategies, followed by European and UK equities. Notwithstanding this, there were net inflows into some of our focus areas such as sustainable and international equities. Fixed income net outflows were driven largely by emerging market sovereign strategies, which countered net inflows into inflation-linked, liquidity and income strategies. Multi-asset net outflows were broadly spread, including from South African and income strategies. Inflows into our fund platform remained healthy while net inflows into alternatives were driven by our multi-asset credit capability.

Net flows by client group

The UK client group's net outflows were driven by certain clients rebalancing their portfolios, reducing demand for UK equities and some pockets of investment underperformance. The Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe client groups' net outflows were largely from institutional clients and driven by fewer allocations into active global equities and emerging markets, as well as reallocations away from risk-on strategies. Fund platform net inflows into the Africa client group were largely offset by net outflows from South African multi-asset and global equity strategies.

Net flows by client type

The institutional channel represented the bulk of net outflows and were largely from the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe client groups. The institutional net outflows were mainly out of equities, followed by fixed income. Within the advisor channel, net outflows were driven largely by the UK client group. Although there were advisor net inflows into the fund platform and fixed income, these were offset by net outflows from equities.

Investment performance

Firm-wide investment performance⁽¹⁾

Our short- and medium-term performance has weakened, with one- and three-year outperformance closing at 46% and 43% respectively (30 September 2023: 50% and 52% respectively).

Our long-term firm-wide investment performance remained competitive, with the five- and ten-year outperformance closing at 64% and 76% respectively (30 September 2023: 71% and 80% respectively).

Note: (1) Firm-wide outperformance is calculated as the sum of the total market values for individual portfolios that have positive active returns on a gross basis expressed as a percentage of total AUM. Our percentage of firm outperformance is reported on the basis of current AUM and therefore does not include terminated funds. Total AUM excludes double-counting of pooled products and third party assets administered on our South African fund platform. Benchmarks used for the above analysis include cash, peer group averages, inflation and market indices as specified in client mandates or fund prospectuses. For all periods shown, market values are as at the period end date.

Mutual fund investment performance⁽¹⁾

At the end of the financial year 2024, Ninety One's mutual fund investment performance declined marginally on a one-year basis, with 46% of mutual funds in the first or second quartiles (30 September 2023: 49%).

Over longer periods, the mutual fund performance either declined or remained broadly stable, with 62% and 91% of mutual funds in the first or second quartile, on a five- and ten-year basis respectively (30 September 2023: 82% and 90% respectively).

Note: (1) Mutual fund performance and ranking as per Morningstar data using primary share classes, as defined by Morningstar, net of fees to 31 March 2024. Peer group universes are either Investment Association, Morningstar Categories or ASISA sectors as classified by Morningstar. Cash or cash-equivalent funds are excluded from the tables. Mutual fund performance weighted by AUM. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Alternative performance measures

Ninety One uses non-IFRS measures, which include measures used by management to monitor and assess the financial performance of Ninety One.

Items are included in, or excluded from, adjusted operating revenue and expenses based on management's assessment of whether they contribute to the core operations of the business. In particular:

‒    Share of profit from associates, as well as net gain on investments and other income, are included in other operating revenue as these items are directly attributable to operations;

‒    deferred employee benefit scheme movements are deducted from adjusted operating revenue and adjusted operating expenses as the movements offset and do not impact operating performance;

‒    subletting income is excluded from adjusted operating revenue and deducted from adjusted operating expenses as it is a recovery of costs rather than a core revenue item;

‒    the share scheme net expense/credit is excluded from adjusted operating expenses and employee remuneration so that they reflect the position as though all awards during the period were fully expensed in the same period; and

‒    interest expense on lease liabilities is included in adjusted operating expenses to reflect the operating costs of offices.

Adjusted earnings per share is calculated on the after tax adjusted operating profit divided by the number of shares in issue at the end of the period, as management's assessment is that this is a reliable measure of Ninety One's operating performance.

These non-IFRS measures are considered additional disclosures and in no case are intended to replace the financial information prepared in accordance with the basis of preparation detailed in the consolidated financial statements. Moreover, the way in which Ninety One defines and calculates these measures may differ from the way in which these or similar measures are calculated by other entities. Accordingly, they may not be comparable to measures used by other entities in Ninety One's industry.

The non-IFRS measures are considered to be pro forma financial information, have been compiled for illustrative purposes only and are the responsibility of Ninety One's Board. Due to their nature, they may not fairly present the issuer's financial position, changes in equity, results of operations or cash flows. The non-IFRS financial information has been prepared with reference to JSE Guidance Letter: Presentation of pro forma financial information dated 4 March 2010 and in accordance with paragraphs 8.15 to 8.33 in the JSE Listings Requirements, the Revised SAICA Guide on Pro forma Financial Information (issued September 2014) and International Standard on Assurance Engagement ("ISAE") 3420 -Assurance Engagements to Report on the Compilation of Pro forma Financial Information included in a Prospectus, to the extent applicable given the Non-IFRS Financial Information's nature. This pro forma financial information has been reported on by PwC in terms of ISAE 3420 and their unmodified report is available for inspection on the Ninety One website (www.ninetyone.com).

These non-IFRS measures, including reconciliations to their nearest condensed consolidated financial statements equivalents, are as follows:

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION AND DIVIDEND ANNOUNCEMENT 

In terms of the DLC structure, Ninety One plc shareholders registered on the United Kingdom share register may receive all or part of their dividend entitlements through dividends declared and paid by Ninety One plc on their ordinary shares and/or through dividends declared and paid on the SA DAN share issued by Ninety One Limited.

Ninety One plc shareholders registered on the South African branch register may receive all or part of their dividend entitlements through dividends declared and paid by Ninety One plc on their ordinary shares and/or through dividends declared and paid on the SA DAS share issued by Ninety One Limited.

Ninety One plc dividend announcement

Notice is hereby given that a gross final dividend of 6.4 pence per ordinary share has been recommended by the Board from income reserves in respect of the financial year ended 31 March 2024. The final dividend will be paid on 8 August 2024 to shareholders recorded in the shareholders' registers of the company on close of business 19 July 2024.

Ninety One plc shareholders registered on the United Kingdom share register, will receive their dividend payment by Ninety One plc of 6.4 pence per ordinary share.

Ninety One plc shareholders registered on the South African branch register, will receive their dividend payment by Ninety One Limited, on the SA DAS share, equivalent to 6.4 pence per ordinary share.

Share certificates on the South African branch register may not be dematerialised or rematerialised between Wednesday, 17 July 2024 and Friday, 19 July 2024, both dates inclusive, nor may transfers between the United Kingdom share register and the South African branch register take place between Wednesday, 17 July 2024 and Friday, 19 July 2024, both dates inclusive.

Additional information for Ninety One shareholders registered on the South African branch register

‒   The final dividend paid by Ninety One plc to shareholders registered on the South African branch register is a local payment derived from funds sourced in South Africa.

‒   Shareholders registered on the South African branch register are advised that the distribution of 6.40000 pence, equivalent to a gross dividend of 153.09504 cents per share (rounded to 153.00000 cents per share), has been arrived at using the rand/pound Sterling average buy/sell spot rate of ZAR23.9211/GBP, as determined at 11:00 (SA time) on Tuesday, 4 June 2024. Consequently, tax will be calculated on the gross dividend of 153.00000 cents per share.

‒   Ninety One plc United Kingdom tax reference number: 623 59652 16053.

‒   The issued ordinary share capital of Ninety One plc is 622,624,622 ordinary shares.

‒   The dividend paid by Ninety One plc to South African resident shareholders registered on the South African branch register and the dividend paid by Ninety One Limited to Ninety One plc shareholders on the SA DAS share are subject to South African Dividend Tax ("Dividend Tax") of 20% (subject to any available exemptions as legislated).

‒   Shareholders registered on the South African branch register who are exempt from paying the Dividend Tax will receive a net dividend of 153.00000 cents per share, paid by Ninety One Limited on the SA DAS share.

‒   Shareholders registered on the South African branch register who are not exempt from paying the Dividend Tax will receive a net dividend of 122.40000 cents per share (gross dividend of 153.00000 cents per share less Dividend Tax of 30.60000 cents per share) paid by Ninety One Limited on the SA DAS share.

By order of the board

Amina Rasool

Company Secretary

4 June 2024

Ninety One Limited dividend announcement

Notice is hereby given that a gross final dividend of 153.00000 cents per ordinary share has been recommended by the Board from income reserves in respect of the financial year ended 31 March 2024. The final dividend will be paid on 8 August 2024 to shareholders recorded in the shareholders' register of the company on close of business 19 July 2024.

The relevant dates for the payment of the dividend are as follows:

The final gross dividend of 153.09504 cents per ordinary share (rounded to 153.00000 cents per ordinary share) has been determined by converting the Ninety One plc distribution of 6.40000 pence per ordinary share into rands using the rand/pound sterling average buy/sell spot rate of ZAR23.9211/GBP, as determined at 11:00 (SA time) on Tuesday, 4 June 2024. Consequently, tax will be calculated on the gross dividend of 153.00000 cents per share.

Share certificates may not be dematerialised or rematerialised between Wednesday, 17 July 2024 and Friday, 19 July 2024, both dates inclusive.

Additional information to take note of:

‒      The final dividend paid by Ninety One Limited to shareholders registered on the South African register is a local payment derived from funds sourced in South Africa.

‒      Ninety One Limited South African tax reference number: 9661 9311 71.

‒      The issued ordinary share capital of Ninety One Limited is 284,754,801 ordinary shares.

‒      The dividend paid by Ninety One Limited is subject to South African Dividend Tax ("Dividend Tax") of 20% (subject to any available exemptions as legislated).

‒      Shareholders who are exempt from paying the Dividend Tax will receive a net dividend of 153.00000 cents per ordinary share.

‒      Shareholders who are not exempt from paying the Dividend Tax will receive a net dividend of 122.40000 cents per ordinary share (gross dividend of 153.00000 cents per ordinary share less Dividend Tax of 30.60000 cents per ordinary share).

By order of the board

Ninety One Africa Proprietary Limited

Company Secretary

4 June 2024