Perpetual profit down 84 per cent

Perpetual has recorded an 84 per cent decrease in net profit after tax for the six months to December 31 to $13.2 million, down from $87.6 million.

The company announced to the Australian Securities Exchange today that the profit result was in line with market consensus.

Commenting on the result, Perpetual chairman Robert Savage said unprecedented conditions in the global markets in 2008 had intensified in the first half of the current financial year.

He said Perpetual had been impacted directly by the financial crisis and its core businesses were being challenged on a number of fronts.

Savage said funds under management were directly affected by the 31 per cent decline in the All Ordinaries Index in the first six months and that following the introduction of the bank guarantee, there had been a significant increase in redemptions from mortgage funds across the industry.

As well, he said that the securitisation market for residential backed mortgages - a key driver of revenue in the Perpetual Corporate Trust - remained largely closed to new business.

Among the factors dragging on the Perpetual result were restructuring charges, with the chief executive, David Deverall, saying that a major component had related to targeted redundancies across the company.