AMP shareholders have rubbished chief executive Francesco De Ferrari’s “plea for clemency” as shares in the company tumbled 10 per cent after the group revealed its US-based suitor, Ares Management, dumped its $6 billion takeover offer late on Wednesday night.

The news that Ares Management was no longer interested in the whole-of-company offer it lobbed last year is another setback for the beleaguered wealth management company, which reported a 30 per cent drop in underlying full-year profit on Thursday.