WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM) shares are edging higher in morning trade following the release of the company's interim results for the first half of the 2021 financial year (H1 FY21).
At the time of writing, the WAM Capital share price has lifted 0.49% to $4.07.
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What did the company report?
The Wam Capital share price is in the green today after the asset manager reported an operating profit before tax of $233.4 million. That's up 144.1% year on year. Operating profit after tax of $166.5 million increased 136.6% from the first half of the 2020 financial year. The company credited the strong performance of its investment portfolio for the results.
WAM Capital said its investment portfolio gained 22.8% during the half year. That's a 7.1% outperformance over the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index. (This index also includes company dividends, to give a like-for-like comparison.) For the full 2020 calendar year, WAM Capital's portfolio gained 9.6%, a 6.0% outperformance of the index.
Over the half-year period ending 31 December, the company said total shareholder return was 26.8%.
WAM Capital Chair Geoff Wilson said:
The December half presented significant corporate opportunities, with WAM Capital announcing takeover offers for Concentrated Leaders Fund (ASX: CLF), Contango Income Generator (ASX: CIE), and amaysim Australia (ASX: AYS). All three offers were net tangible assets (NTA) accretive for WAM Capital's shareholders.
The company will pay a 7.75 cent dividend, fully franked. That's unchanged from H1 FY20, and represents an annualised dividend yield of 7.0%.
WAM Capital share price snapshot
Over the past 12 months, the WAM Capital Share price has fallen by around 12%. That compares to a 1% loss on the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).
The past 6 months have seen an improvement, with WAM Capital shares up 1.2% since 19 August. So far in 2021, the WAM Capital share price is down 7%.
