Australian Ethical NPAT down
Australian Ethical has posted a three per cent drop to $2.92 billion in net profit after tax attributable to shareholders thanks to costs associated with the remediation of a unit pricing error in its superannuation fund, and employment restructure expenses.
While the firm’s revenues grew by 23 per cent, its expenses increased 34 per cent counting year-on-year, the company said.
At the same time, Australian Ethical’s underlying profit after tax saw an 11 per cent growth compared with the prior corresponding period.
The company said the unit price error of $2.86 million was identified in June 2016 by management and the remediation of member accounts was completed in March 2017. The firm said its approach was to “put members back into the position that they would have been in had the error not occurred”.
The board declared a fully franked dividend of 210 cents per share for the full year ended 30 June 2017, bringing the total dividend for the year to $2.60 per share, which represented a decrease of 13 per cent on the previous year.
Funds under management (FUM), which amounted to $2.2 billion for the full year, saw a 39 per cent increase, driven by significant member growth, net inflows, and positive investment performance.
According to the company, Australia Ethical Super membership rose by 34 per cent from the previous corresponding period to 35,352.
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