Henderson shares leap 9% on H1 profit surprise

Henderson shares have risen by almost 9% after the group said it expected underlying H1 profit to come in at around £100m, ahead of market expectations.

The group said that estimate, for the six months to 30 June, included expected performance fees of around £57m. The update sent shares up 8.6% to 175p by mid-morning. Broker Numis, which rates the stock a hold with a price target of 157p, said both figures were well ahead of its expectations of £82.2m underlying profit and £24m in performance fees. Henderson, due to announce half-year results on 8 August, previously reported an "encouraging result" for its retail business in Q1 2013 after enjoying its first net retail inflows since 2011. The group - headed by Andrew Formica (pictur...