Ashmore says profit gains on rising fees

LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Ashmore Group (Other OTC: AJMPF - news) , a fund manager focused on emerging markets, said its pre-tax profit increased 6 percent in the 12 months to the end of June, beating analyst forecasts after its income from performance fees rose.

London-based Ashmore (LSE: ASHM.L - news) said in a statement on Tuesday pre-tax profit rose to 257.6 million pounds ($405 million), against 233.7 million pounds expected by Societe Generale (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) analysts.

Despite a widespread sell-off in emerging markets since May, prompted by worries about a withdrawal of the U.S. central bank monetary stimulus, Ashmore did not suffer significant asset outflows.

Across the year to June, its assets under management rose 22 percent to $77.4 billion. This, as well as strong investment performance before the May sell-off, helped it to earn 33.4 million pounds in performance fees, up from 25.4 million pounds in 2012.