19th Apr 2016 06:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - Saga PLC, which sells insurance and holidays to people over the age of 50, on Tuesday increased its full-year dividend and said pretax profit grew by more than half in its last financial year.
Saga increased its full-year dividend to 7.2 pence per share from 4.1p, which the company said was above expectations, as pretax profit from continuing operations rose by 55% to GBP176.2 million in the year ended January 31.
Trading profit at Saga's motor insurance arm grew by 18% to GBP118.3 million and home insurance trading profit rose 3.2% to GBP64.1 million. Other insurance trading profit was down 12% to GBP30.7 million. Overall, insurance trading profit rose 8.0% to GBP213.1 million, while travel trading profit grew 27% to GBP17.2 million.
"This performance, alongside our plans to generate additional free cash flow in the future, has enabled us to propose a significant increase in the dividend paid to shareholders and increased the range for future dividends. This is a meaningful change, and one that signals our commitment to driving shareholder returns through sustainable dividends going forward," Chief Executive Officer Lance Batchelor said in a statement.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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