(Bloomberg) -- Ashmore Plc’s profits slumped in the second half of last year as the asset manager saw clients pull billions from its funds.

Pre-tax profit at the London-based firm plunged 54% year on year to £53.8 million ($65.1 million) in the six months through December, according to a statement Wednesday. Net management fees dropped to £98 million in the period from £131 million a year earlier. 

The asset manager, which specializes in emerging market debt, has been grappling with poor performance and an exodus of clients for the past two years. The firm, which was founded in 1992 as part of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and became independent seven years later, has most of its assets in segregated mandates. It also runs several funds available to retail investors.

Ashmore said clients withdrew a net $7.6 billion from its funds in the period, taking managed assets down to $57.2 billion from $64 billion six months earlier.

“The global macro environment in 2022 was complex, but the headwinds it produced are now receding and leading to an increase in investor risk appetite,” said Chief Executive Editor Mark Coombs. “This, combined with highly attractive valuations across equities and fixed income in Emerging Markets and low investor allocations, mean that emerging markets are set to continue outperforming as markets recover.”

Read more: Ashmore’s Assets Rise as Positive Markets Offset Client Outflows

(Updates with chart of quarterly flows. An earlier version of this story was corrected to fix the profit amount in the second paragraph.)

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