This archive report was first published on 21 August 2020.
ICEA Lion Asset Management Limited (ILAM) has reported a significant increase in its half-year net earnings, reaching KSh 62.7 million as of June 30th, 2020.
This marks a notable improvement from the KSh 43.7 million posted in the first half of 2019.
ILAM's balance sheet expanded to KSh 749.9 million, up from KSh 592.8 million, while total income rose to KSh 268.1 million from KSh 202.7 million during the same period.
Pre-tax profit also increased to KSh 89.6 million from KSh 62.5 million, with total shareholders' funds rising to KSh 553.7 million from KSh 519.7 million.
Despite a bearish Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) affecting returns from equities and growth funds, ILAM's managers successfully mitigated these declines with robust earnings from money market and bond funds.
The firm's comprehensive income statement revealed that the Equity Fund incurred a net loss of KSh 145.3 million, down from a net profit of KSh 34.8 million in the same period last year.
The Growth Fund also experienced a net loss of KSh 27.5 million, compared to a net profit of KSh 13.9 million in the same period in 2019.
However, the Money Market Fund, ILAM's largest portfolio, posted a net profit of KSh 234.3 million, up from KSh 218.9 million in the same period last year.
The Bond Fund made a net profit of KSh 2.5 million, a decline from KSh 4.1 million in 2019.
As one of the oldest fund managers in Kenya, ILAM targets institutional and corporate investors, including pension schemes, as well as retail investors with surplus cash to invest at regular intervals or in one-off lump sum investments.
These include individual investors, high net-worth individuals, clubs, small business associations, and community credit unions.
ILAM's total income from its Money Market Funds increased to KSh 382.5 million in the first six months of this year, up from KSh 350.8 million in the same period in 2019.
Due to a depressed NSE, ILAM reduced its investment in quoted equities from KSh 1,031,000 to nil at the end of the first half of this year.
Unrealised profits from investments also fell substantially from KSh 5.3 million in the first half of 2019 to KSh 372,000 at the end of June 30th, 2020.
