Stephen Bird

The loss is attributed to global economic instability with fee based revenue falling 8% to £696m and adjusted operating profit 28% lower at £115m.

Shares have fallen 33% this year to 165.7p, but despite the current gloomy outlook, the group CEO remains positive expecting an improvement in H2.

CEO of abrdn, Stephen Bird, said: “The half year group results largely reflect the challenging global economic environment and market turbulence.

“When I became CEO in late 2020 I said that we would pursue a strategy of diversification by refocusing our Investments business into areas of strength, where we have scale and that lean into global growth trends and also significantly expand our reach into the higher growth UK wealth market.

“We are doing exactly that and the addition of interactive investor transforms our UK retail presence and future revenue streams. The strength of our balance sheet means that we can continue to invest and reward shareholders.”

Commenting on the results, John Moore, senior investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, said: “Today’s mixed set of results from Abrdn confirm the tricky position the company finds itself in.

“After a challenging year or so, between market turbulence and a restructuring of its business, Abrdn finds itself at the edge of the FTSE 100 having lost around -30% of its value since the beginning of 2022.

“The purchase of Tritax and Interactive Investor have reshaped the company and appear to be performing well, but there are some more strategic moves required to get the fund manager back on track. Abrdn seems certain to be relegated from London’s top index unless it can pull something out of the bag in the near-term.”