Berenberg lowers target price on Impax Asset Management

Analysts at Berenberg lowered their target price on asset manager Impax from 1,350.0p to 1,250.0p on Wednesday as ongoing market volatility had somewhat offset the firm's "strong H1 results".

Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock, said Impax's H1 was characterised by "a resilient level of organic growth". However, the German bank also noted that this was offset by falling markets.

"The company reported strong H1 results with earnings per share of 21.5p (+82% year-on-year), circa 5% ahead of Berenberg expectations. Impax demonstrated decent organic AUM growth of £468.0m in Q2 (to 31 March), representing a circa 5% annualised organic growth rate," said Berenberg.

"Total AUM fell by 8% to £38.0bn as a result of negative market movements driven by the conflict in Ukraine. Organic growth has slowed since Q1; this is understandable in light of the higher levels of uncertainty in the first part of the year. During April and May, markets have continued to fall and are down c5%."

Taking this into account, Berenberg cut its full-year 2022-24 estimates by roughly 5- 9% to reflect the interim earnings per share beat but also current market levels.