Link Administration drops on flagging earnings hit from British unit

Link Administration Holdings

03/08/2023 03:56

** Shares of Australia's Link Administration Holdings Ltd
 LNK.AX  slide as much as 5.4% to A$1.415 - their lowest level
since March 24, 2020
    ** Share registry firm expects to report FY23 statutory loss
after tax of about A$417.7 million ($273.05 million), compared
with a loss of A$67.6 mln a year ago
    ** Loss driven by one-off provision of A$390.9 mln for
settlement and associated redress with UK regulators in relation
to its UK unit, Link Fund Solutions (LFS)
    ** LFS is expected to pay up to 235 mln pounds ($298.76 mln)
in redress payments following an investigation into the unit
over its mismanagement of now-defunct LF Woodford Equity Income
Fund
    ** LNK expects to post operating EBITDA of A$273.2 mln for
FY23, up 8.3% from year ago and within previously disclosed
guidance range, but slightly below Refinitiv Eikon estimate of
A$275 mln
    ** LNK posts its biggest intraday pct fall since July 3
    ** About 1.5 mln shares change hands, vs the 30-day average
volume of ~1.4 mln shares
    ** LNK down 24.3% YTD, as of last close

($1 = 1.5298 Australian dollars)
($1 = 0.7866 pounds)

 (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru)
 ((harish.sridharan@thomsonreuters.com))