ICG assets under management rise, but investment arm feels COVID-19 pain

(Reuters) - Intermediate Capital Group <ICP.L> on Thursday posted a 22% jump in full-year assets under management (AUM) but valuations hurt by the coronavirus pandemic pushed its investment arm into a 68.6 million pound loss for the period.

AUM as at March 31 were 45.3 billion euros, compared to 37.08 billion euros a year earlier, the British asset manager said, which recently took a spot on the FTSE 100 bluechip index.

The investment division loss compared with a profit of 39.1 million pounds a year earlier, causing a 37% drop in the group's overall pretax profit to 114.5 million pounds.

"We expect lower fundraising and investment activity in the short term, but our market fundamentals remain strong, our exposure to the most affected sectors is limited, and we are working closely with all our investments and portfolio companies to help them adapt to this new environment", Chief Executive Benoit Durteste said.

Still, the company, which manages assets in private debt, credit and equity, principally in closed-end funds, raised its final dividend by 2% to 35.8 pence, making it one of the few firms to hike its shareholder payout during the virus crisis.

(This story refiles to fix typo in the headline)

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru, editing by Sinead Cruise)