The giant UK-listed asset manager reported relatively less severe outflows compared to the £10.5bn of net client money it lost in the last quarter of 2016.
But this latest period, which comes just months after its merger with Standard Life was announced, still represented the sixteenth consecutive quarter in the red for the firm’s client-flow figures.
Its total net outflows in the six months to 31 March 2017 were £13.4bn.
Aberdeen said weaker sterling helped “cushion the effects” of these total outflows over the interim, boosting assets under management to £308.1bn.
However, this was weaker than the firm’s £312.1bn asset level at 30 September 2016.
The combination of “favourable market conditions” and depreciation in the pound helped to raise the group’s revenue and profits, it said.
Profit before tax was up 19.8% to £195.2m, while revenue was boosted by 10.6% to £534.9m.
“Without these favourable effects, profit growth wouldn’t have looked quite as rosy,” Hargreaves Lansdown senior analyst Laith Khalaf said.
“Against a backdrop of weak flows, the rationale of a merger with Standard Life looks pretty compelling, particularly given the gauntlet laid down by passive funds for the active fund industry,” he added.
Aberdeen’s shares responded positively to the news, rising by 3.4% to 288.6p on Tuesday (2 May) morning.
“The trend to outflows looks to be improving,” said Cantor Fitzgerald director of financial services research Keith Baird.
