Fortnum & Mason owners take home windfall £91m dividend
THE CANADIAN owners of Fortnum & Mason and Associated British Foods took home £91m in dividends last year after a strong performance across its investments.
Accounts filed recently on Companies House reveal that Wittington Investments, one of the main investment vehicles of the Weston Family, paid out £53m in the year to 14 September compared with £51m the previous year.
This was followed by an interim dividend of £38m paid to shareholders in October after the year-end, the accounts show.
The bumper payout was driven by a 6.8 per cent jump in profits to £642m, while group sales rose 8.5 per cent to £13.4bn.
Wittington’s 54.5 per cent stake in Primark-owner ABF accounted for 99 per cent of profits.