Shareholders to benefit as Euro companies change their focus

European companies are better catered towards the shareholder than they have been previously, fund managers agree. Adrian Darley, head of Europe at Aberdeen Asset Management, says: "As capital markets grow, European companies are doing more share buybacks and increasing dividends, which is good news for shareholders. The real story is not about better economic growth but improved shareholder value methodology. Companies did a lot of restructuring in 2003 in order to compete and now have leaner cost bases as a result." Rob Burnett, fund manager of the Neptune European Opportunities fund,...