Shareholders in fund management group Gartmore have been on a breathless ride recently, since star performer Guillaume Rambourg was first suspended and then left the business, and this continued today after a disappointing set of results.
Gartmore - tipped as a takeover target for rival Henderson before this was played down - has suffered a continuing loss of clients after Rambourg was suspended as part of an internal probe. An update today shows assets fell by 9% to £20.3bn between the start of the year and the end of July, with the bulk of the drop coming as investors began withdrawing funds following Rambourg's suspension on May 4. Further redemptions are likely to follow on September 1, the first dealing day after Rambourg's departure was announced. So far notices of redemptions have been received for £223m.
The company also reported half year figures to the end of June, showing that earnings jumped by 146% on higher revenues - but the bulk of the improvement relates to business before the problems with Rambourg surfaced.
Gartmore's shares fell another 3.1p to 116p after the figures, partly due to bid hopes fading somewhat.
