Abrdn Chief Executive Officer Stephen Bird dismissed the possibility of the company being broken up as the money manager saw another year of net outflows amid efforts to stop the exodus.
The Edinburgh-based fund house reported net outflows of £17.6 billion ($22.3 billion) last year across its businesses, compared with a total of £39.7 billion in 2022. Net operating revenue decreased 4% to £1.4 billion in 2023 while adjusted operating profit declined 5% to £249 million, abrdn said in a filing Feb. 27.
Bird, who took over in 2020 and promised to reset operations, said there is "significant work ahead" and added he was confident abrdn will be "successful in delivering future growth." In a media call, he told reporters that the company is now a modern investment firm.
Some analysts pointed to steady net interest margin guidance for 2024, but highlighted that sustainability may be questioned given regulatory scrutiny. Others pointed to better fee-based revenue and lower costs year on year. Shares of the company jumped as much as 7.8% in early London trading before paring most of those gains to 1.9% as of 10:01 a.m. local time.
But the stock is still down more than 40% since the end of 2020, compared with a 19% gain in the FTSE 100 index, as abrdn has been struggling to turn around its performance after the merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen in 2017. Bird has sought to streamline operations, cut costs and reduce the firm's reliance on actively managed mutual funds. But those efforts have largely failed to check the outflows.
Assets under management shrank to a fresh low of £495 billion at the end of the year.
Last month, the money manager announced plans for another round of job cuts to rein in costs. It said it would eliminate roughly 500 roles, or 10% of its workforce, as part of a program to save at least an annualized £150 million. The proposal involves removal of management layers, raising efficiency in outsourcing and technology as well as reduction of overheads in group functions and support services, the firm said.
