St James's Place hikes dividend as NAV swells
Wealth management group St James’s Place hiked its total dividend 18% as it reported a strong rise in net asset value for 2016, while chief executive David Bellamy is set to retire at the end of the year.
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St James's Place
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The European embedded value (EEV) new business profit increased 18% to £520.2m in calendar 2016 from the previous year, while net asset value per share jumped to 900.7p from 737.3p a year before.
Operating profits rose 2% to £673.6m but pre-tax profits fell 7% to £140.6m.
The company proposed a final dividend of 20.67p per share, up 20%, which brings the full year dividend to 33p per share, growth of 18%.
Outgoing chief executive Bellamy, who will be replaced by current chief financial officer Andrew Croft at the end of 2017, said: "At the time of our half year results, we increased the interim dividend by 15% and reaffirmed our commitment to continue to grow the dividend in line with the underlying performance of the business.”
Over the year, the FTSE 250 company achieved record gross inflows of £11.4bn, up 24%, and net inflow of funds under management was up 17% to £6.8bn, while funds under management increased 28% to £75.3bn.
Bellamy added: “Looking forward, we entered 2017 with a stronger adviser team, a more diversified investment proposition and a greater need for advice clients can rely on. We remain committed to relationship based advice and believe we are better placed than ever to serve our clients well and for the opportunities that lie ahead."
Shares in St James’s Place were down 5.15% to 1,032p at 0825 GMT.