Aberdeen Asset Management shares up after profits leap

Aberdeen has assets under management amounting to more than £212bn

Shares in investment firm Aberdeen Asset Management rose sharply after the group reported a 25% leap in first-half revenues and profits.

The Aberdeen-based firm said revenues reached £516m for the six months to the end of March, up from £413.1m a year earlier.

Underlying pre-tax profits also rose from £162.2m to £222.8m.

Aberdeen said it had benefited from strong demand for its higher-margin investment funds.

Shares in the group were up nearly 9% by 11:00 on Monday.

Assets under management rose by 13% over the half to £212.3bn, driven in part by positive investment performance.

Aberdeen reported a particularly strong performance by its global emerging markets' range of equities funds.

These funds typically earn higher fees than other products.

Chief executive Martin Gilbert told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "If we do well for our clients, it automatically follows that we do well.

"It's been a great year for our clients - we have made a lot of money for them, markets have risen, and we have also outperformed a lot of the indexes that we benchmark ourselves against."