13th Mar 2019 15:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - Standard Life Aberdeen PLC said Wednesday it has invited holders of its outstanding GBP500.0 million fixed rate subordinated notes due 2042 to tender their securities for cash.
Standard Life Aberdeen said the tender swap is being offered to "reduce and optimise" funding costs associated with the securities following the firm's sale of its pension business, Standard Life Assurance Ltd, to FTSE 250-listed Phoenix Group Holdings.
Shares in the FTSE 100-listed investment firm were up 3.3% Wednesday at 253.05 pence each.
Earlier Wednesday, Standard Life Aberdeen announced it has restructured its management team as the fund manager continues to progress its merger, but it saw a drop in assets under management and administration in 2018.
The firm is set to end its co-chief executive structure, which was formed as a result of the merger between Standard Life PLC and Aberdeen Asset Management PLC.
Keith Skeoch, former head of Standard Life, will become the sole chief executive officer with his co-CEO Martin Gilbert, founder and former head of Aberdeen, to take up the role of vice chair.
Standard Life proposed a final dividend of 14.3p per share, bringing its total for the year to 21.6p, up 1.4% on 2017. The company intends to maintain its 2018 dividend during "the period of transformation", which the company said is 75% complete.
The fund manager recorded assets under management and administration from continuing operations of GBP551.5 billion as at December 31, down 9.3% from GBP608.1 billion at the end of 2017.
Analyst consensus forecasted Standard Life Aberdeen to end 2018 with GBP555.8 billion assets under management and administration, with net outflows forecast at GBP40.3 billion.
Net fund outflows from continuing operations totalled GBP40.9 billion versus GBP32.9 billion outflows recorded in 2017. Market movements were a net GBP20.5 billion loss in 2018 with the same movements adding GBP36.8 billion to assets in 2017.
Adjusted pretax profit from continuing operations - a key profit measure for the company - for 2018 totalled GBP650 million, down 1.5% from the GBP660 million recorded in 2017. It was, however, better than the consensus forecast of GBP617 million.
"In a tough year of continued change for our industry, we saw further net outflows - equivalent to about 7% of our starting assets. Yet as we have shown by our increased gross inflows, we continue to develop a business that has the scale and breadth to compete globally - and to continue to get closer to British savers through our growing Platforms," said new Vice Chair Gilbert.
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