Weak rand impacts Investec over half year

Investec has reported its results for the half year to 30 September, a period which saw its business impacted by a depreciation in the South African rand.

For the six-month reporting period, the asset management arm of the group, with private banking operations stripped out, reported a 2.5% uptick in pre-tax profit from £65.5m in 2011 to £67.2m for 2012. The group said its asset and wealth management businesses saw net inflows of £2.1bn, with these businesses accounting for 39.3% of total operating profit. Total third party assets under management totalled £99.5bn, compared to £96.8bn as at 31 March 2012. Bernard Kantor, managing director, said the weakness in the rand had affected the firm in sterling terms. "Global markets remained...